Opening Statement: Chapter 8 and this is again a final chapter... but with a twist. See this chapter takes place after a massive time jump, one so that we are now in summer break for the Seville and Stevenson families. Why is this you may be asking yourself well... you'll see. Anyways, let's get to the story shall we!

Disclaimer: Go to chapter 1... JUST- no, I'm not going there again... not this time!

Months had passed since that first school day for the Stevenson family, and they had been doing great the entire time since. Brianna had actually won the school election for president, having taken her mother's place in regards to responsibilities of the school, Alex had taken after his Aunt Kendra, a natural love of sports apparently being in his DNA from both sides. Lucas had a love of food not unlike that of his Great Aunt Eleanor and Great Uncle Theodore, now so skilled in a kitchen that he was able to produce delicious foods from seemingly anything he had available, while Lily had taken to a botanical career in regards to her studies, now able to identify several different types of plants just by seeing the leaves. Anne and Vanessa had taken to a pretty similar choice of interests, both going for skills in tailoring, and though they competed a lot of the time, they mostly worked together on new clothes, both for chipmunks and humans alike. David and Simone had a bit of a different interest, in that they were solely focused on training their vocal skills for singing, the only two that seemed to truly desire singing above all else it seemed. Sandy had taken to writing, starting out originally in a personal journal, but then deciding to enter an entry in her journal for a writing competition in school, winning first place for the originality of her words, while Karen had taken to an acting career, much like her Uncle Michael, showing considerable talent in the art of comedy, though also being a talented all around actress. Julie, much like her namesake, was not so much interested in excelling herself, but rather in helping others, going so far as to help a fellow student with their work assignments even when she had no work of her own to complete, while Ashley, like Alex in a sense, took a career in sports, though more of a different kind. Ashley was a skilled fencer, having managed to take on an opponent while blindfolded without taking a single hit, though she also had an interest in the ancient art of the samurai, having ordered a custom made katana of her own that she used to practice the old art, as well as just to brag about. Bryan had taken to a musical career of his own, though he was more into instrumentals than vocals, excelling with such instruments as the acoustic guitar, flute, and even the concertina, while the youngest child, Vincent had taken an interest in language studies, already able to speak fluently in at least five different languages, including French, Spanish, German, Latin and Japanese.

In short, Sandra and Luke were proud of their family, just as Alvin and Brittany had been proud of them. Currently they were on a summer vacation with Dave and Samantha, the entire Seville clan hopping into the Chipmunk tour bus for the trip, as Miles, Ian, Zoe and strangely enough James Suggs were coming along, Toby had been offered to join but he and his girlfriend Julie were having a bit of personal time together instead. Currently, the whole crew were driving out to the nearby Las Vegas strip, though that wasn't where they were going to stay, as this was a camping trip, the first for the entire extended family... well, minus the time Alvin got everyone stuck on that island during the Carnival Dreams cruise.

"Are we there yet Dad?" Alvin asked, Dave rolling his eyes and chuckling, "No, surprisingly we are not there yet... but we're close." Dave replied, Samantha in the passenger seat next to Dave giggling to herself, "You know, we didn't have to take a trip to the Mojave Desert to have good time," Samantha said, while Alvin rolled his own eyes and hopped back into the rear of the bus, which was more like a glorified motor home with everything it had. Currently, Miles and the rest of the family, Seville and Stevenson alike, were watching some TV on the couch, Alvin sitting himself next to Brittany and stealing a kiss to her cheek, "It's nice to get out, isn't it dear?" Alvin said, Brittany giggling a bit before she nodded, "Yes, and it'll be fun to see our children exploring nature, as well as out grandchildren." Brittany replied, just as the bus stopped, "Alright, we're here everyone!" Dave announced, putting the bus into park and getting up to let the entire family out.

Once the camp site was set up near the bus the family was allowed to explore, Lily looking at the various plants before she noticed her great uncle Theodore trying to sniff at a flower sprouting out of a round cactus, "Umm... that's a Barrel Cactus, and they have really sharp spines on them... sometimes with a fishhook shape to the spines as a defence mechanism against-" no sooner had Lily started to explain the plant to her great uncle, had he lost his footing and landed in the spines, a loud yelp of pain filling the air. "I don't think I'm gonna make it... tell Ellie that I love her!" Theodore cried, even as Simon pulled the spines out of his green clad brother's butt, "Relax Theodore, you only got like five spines left, just stay still and this will be over before you know it." Simon said, before plucking another spine out and making Theodore yelp again, Alvin strolling over and grimacing a bit, "I don't know Si, honestly speaking here, isn't there a chance of an infection or maybe allergic reaction?" Alvin asked, Jeanette rolling her eyes and shaking her head, "Alvin, yes there's a chance of infection, but only if Theodore was just left out here without proper resources to clean this wound, and as for allergic reactions... I don't think being stuck by a cactus would trigger it." Jeanette replied, as Simon finally plucked the last spine out of Theodore's butt, "And speaking of proper cleaning, Jeanette the cotton ball please... just a warning, this may sting a bit Theo," Simon explained, Jeanette handing him a cotton ball with hydrogen peroxide in it, which he gently dabbed over the spot on his brother's butt where the spines had been, Alvin wincing in sympathetic pain before Theodore let loose a scream of agony.

(Dinner time, Day #1)

It had been only a few hours after Theodore's unfortunate meeting with a barrel cactus, and though it still hurt him to sit down, he was coping well... Eleanor was a big help too in that regard, constantly making Theodore forget his pain by kissing him. Sandra and Luke were sitting with their kids... well, except for Ashley, she was off on her own, having brought her sword with her, she wanted to test her skills in an open environment... plus she wanted to get back at that cactus for hurting her great uncle, she loved Theodore, "You think you can hurt Theo without taking crap about it! I'll show you!" Ashley said, before she drew her sword and swung her sword toward the cactus, only for her arm to be grabbed by a hand... a yellow, scaled hand. This in itself was enough for Ashley to forget about the cactus, and in turn to let out a scream of surprise, "Shhh... you have nothing to fear, just drop the weapon and everything will be fine-"

"THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING WITH MY DAUGHTER!" Luke shouted, the source of the voice yelping and attempting to run away, only to fall face first into the dirt, Ashley having pinned his tail to the ground, "Okay, I truly didn't mean any harm... I just don't want my home ruined and-" "Wait a minute... are you a lizard?" Luke asked, the reptile chuckling ad standing up, brushing himself off a bit, "Yes, specifically a Great Basin Collared Lizard... what? You think that you mammals are the only ones able to speak? The name's Oscar by the way," the lizard said, Luke and Ashley glancing to each other before sighing, "We have a camp site near by, if you want you can come with us, you know warm up a bit, get some food... maybe some clothes." Luke suggested, Oscar rolling his eyes and chuckling, "No thanks, not on the first two things but on clothes, I am still a wild animal as you can tell... and can you let go of my tail before I have to break it off?" Oscar replied, Ashley dropping her grip and giggling a bit "Sorry, both for holding your tail and for nearly ruining a cactus-"

"Actually, this one needs some pruning, so if you could lop off some from the left side then it'd be great," Oscar said, before moving aside and letting Ashley do her work, slicing off a small dead section from the side and in turn releasing a large amount of water, "Oh, and that's good to drink, I get all my fluids from cacti, now about that food you mentioned." Oscar said, before Luke and Ashley guided the lizard to the camp site.

(Day #2)

Oscar had decided to stick around for a little while, now fitted with a simple khaki vest from the skillful seamstresses of Anne and Vanessa, the reptile simply lounging in the sun while the others tended to their camp site. Ashley was off by herself tending to her own camp chores, at the moment consisting of clearing the brush away from the fire pit as there were still a few embers smouldering in the ashes. "Little lady? Do you have moment?" an elderly voice asked, Ashley yelping before turning to find her Great, Great Grandfather Silas, the rat in his usual outfit and holding his cane though the way he held it suggested that he did this before during one of Ashley's practise sessions with her sword, the black furred chipette sighing before shaking her head, "Okay, Papa you have to stop doing that... but yes I can talk, what is it?" Ashley asked, Silas chuckling before reaching into his pocket, pulling out a necklace, nothing fancy or even ornate, rather a simple string with a pendant on it, the pendant itself looking like a small four pointed star within a circle, "I saw a glimpse of somethin' in your future child, and while I usually make it a point not to interfere with the flow of time and the events that transpire with it, I wanted you to be prepared," Silas said, gently placing the necklace around Ashley's neck, the pendant resting on her collar bone.

"So... what is it supposed to do?" Ashley asked, Silas smiling and patting her head gently, "That's gonna be a surprise child, now get back to what you were doing... I have to go back to my parlour, you know how things can get if I'm not there for a while." Silas replied, but before he could simply vanish, he got pulled into a hug by Ashley, "I love you Papa, I wish you could stay longer," Ashley said, Silas smiling and hugging her back, all while trying not to tell her about her future, "I have a very deep regard for you as well child, now I really must be going... but I'll be back when you get home... I promise." Silas said, Ashley pulling away and waving gently before the rat simply vanished, the blue eyed chipette sighing before she got back to her work.

"Ashley! Time for supper!" Luke called out, the black furred chipette putting the pendant into her shirt before rushing off to get some food, in this case being one of Ashley's favorites, chicken and dumplings from Silas's recipe... in a sense Ashley was a Papa's girl, and ever since Silas had decided to make his permanent home within the Seville home, she'd been interested in becoming an apprentice of Silas's, which Sandra and Luke didn't like the idea of, but at the same time didn't discourage too much, they knew she loved Silas more than any of their children, and it was about time someone bonded with that rat. Of course, Lucas was the one cooking, though had help from his Great Aunt and Uncle, as well as his Grandmother, dishing up the perfectly cooked food and handing it around.

(Three Days Later, Ashley's POV)

I fluttered my eyes open and yawned, the sun greeting me in my perch on the tree branch. It had been really warm last night so I simply took my sword out with me, a blanket and slept under the stars. "Mmmm... much more refreshing than I thought... wonder what's for breakfast?" I asked myself, then glanced over to the campsite to see it... well empty. Oh CRAP! I had forgotten that today was the day we left for home, and apparently I'd overslept and missed my ride- wait a minute... I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING MOJAVE DESERT!

"Well... shit." I said to myself, before I got up and gathered my things together... not much to be honest, I had my phone on me, but was out of the service range for making a call, and though I had data on the thing I didn't have that much, so I didn't want to risk using up my last option for survival on a tweet that would probably never get noticed. I then sensed a presence, drawing my katana quickly and swinging the blade behind myself, blocking the stinger of a bark scorpion by mere inches, and then having to jump in order to avoid its pincers. After leaping away for a better vantage Ashley slashed at the scorpion, this time cutting the tail off, then before the creature could try to harm me with a pincer, I stabbed it through the back with my sword and pinned it to the tree branch.

"Ashley? What are you still doing here? I thought that your family left?" Oscar asked, Ashley groaning before turning to find the lizard, still wearing the vest he had been given by her sisters, "I slept out in this tree, and I guess they figured I'd already gotten back into the bus... what am I going to do?" Ashley asked, retrieving her sword and putting it back into its sheath. Oscar then walked over and sat next to the young chipette, placing a scaly hand onto her shoulder, "I can't help you much in regards to getting home... but I may know someone who might." Oscar said, Ashley sighing before nodding her head, silent tears dropping from her eyes as she got up and leaped out of the tree, Oscar right behind her.

TO BE CONTINUED!

Yeah, this is the end of this story... figured I'd leave it here for the sake of the cliffhanger. And yes, as the ending implies, there will be a sequel to this story and Ashley will be going on a bit of a journey. Who will her friend be? Well that's gonna be for the next story, in the meantime, this has been Silent Heart, I'm your author TimberWolf, and... this is a duck *holds up a rubber ducky* PEACE!

And now, a random moment in the Seville home:

*Alvin and Brittany sitting together in the living room, when Brittany sneezes*

Brittany: *now with feminine Australian accent* Oh bloody hell that was a big one!

Alvin: Did you just speak with an accent?

Brittany: What? I'm from Australia, I just got good at hiding my national accent after a while-

Alvin: Well I like your accent... I think it's cute.

Brittany: *grins and speaks with her accent again* Well, in that case Mr. Seville, how's about we go back to our room and I can show you what's-

Alvin: Down Under? No offence Britt but that was painfully trying.

Brittany: You take all the fun out of everything.