I am... very ashamed... Sorry, I don't have any good excuses. Well, except for Ice hockey! Oh god, I scream all the time and literally jump at my sister in joy when Finland wins :) Surprised? What? Finland loves ice hockey, that's all!

Thank you SO much for your reviews! It means a lot :3

Chapter 9 - one chapter to go...

Diego moaned slightly and wrinkled his brow in confusion. What...? Where was he? He tried to sit up only to realize that he couldn't. Cold, rock hard material pressed him down and successfully knocked the breath from him. His throat felt dry and his head was a foggy mess. With great effort the saber managed to crack an eye open. Why was it still so dark?

Oh… Oh. The rockslide. He remembered fighting, winning, seeing the forests below them… And then running. Running from the unforgiving death. Had the other made it out alive? All Diego knew was that he was trapped under tons of rock.

Claustrophobia made his breath hitch. Was this how his father finally died, waiting for dead by hunger or thirst instead for the short, merciful dead by being crushed?

But no… As the dusty air turned heavier and harder to breath Diego realized how he would face his death. Not as an old saber, not in a hunting accident, nor in a fight. He would slowly be choked to death.

His cat eyes finally adjusted to the thick darkness but there was nothing else than plane rock to regard. Did the herd look for him? He didn't know. Blurry stars seemed to dance in front of his eyes, no matter if they were closed or open. Maybe it was time for him to return to his pack – to his… family? If it even existed a place for the dead ones to rest. He hadn't believed in something like that for a long time now.

He closed his eyes and ignored his itching throat and pushed away small trickles of fear. Sabers don't feel fear…

"Di?"

Diego's eyes snapped open again. He knew that voice. To his utter astonishment a small figure crouched beside him with the little head curiously facing him.

"Adi?" Diego gasped and tried to raise a paw to rub his eyes, only to remember that he was stuck.

"Di", the little one repeated with a happy smile. The saber cub stared at him with big, baby blue eyes and giggled. My mind is playing tricks on me, Diego thought without taking his eyes from the cub called Adi. A faint glow covered the cub and Diego struggled against the rocks that kept him down.

He managed to free his right paw with a hiss of pain and he swore it was broken… or just badly bruised. Diego ignored that he shook and raised his paw to touch Adi. It went straight through the cub. Adi wasn't really there.

And Diego had known that, and shouldn't have expected anything else. Still, it hurt. Because little, sweet Adi was dead. And Diego could remember all from the cub's short life: all from the newborn cub to the child saying his first words: ma, pa and soon even Di. Di after Diego. Adi's father had been so proud…

Diego watched tiredly as his brother paced restlessly around. Left, right, left, right… Like a beast in cage, powerful yet helpless in its prison. Left, right, left, right…

"Would you calm down?" Diego finally snapped.

Soto merely growled and kept pacing even faster. Diego rested his head on his paws and watched Soto with half-closed eyes. His brother had finally mated with Mira, and both of them were happy. But thanks to the humans who once again tried to attack them the pack had been forced to move again. It didn't do well for Mira's enormous stomach. Her cubs were close to being born. And now they were coming.

Soto wasn't allowed to be with her, out of old tradition. Diego had stayed with him as silent support – which Soto barely noticed. Diego felt a smile tugging on his lips.

"I'm sure she'll be fine" he assured softly. Soto grunted in reply and threw a nervous glance towards the cave where Mira was. "Have you decided the names yet?" he tried again and Soto finally stopped.

"We got a whole bunch of them", he admitted with a small grin. "And don't pretend you haven't heard them", he added smirking.

"Yes, but you need a good thirty kids to use all those names."

Soto was about to answer when Helen, who helped Mira with the birth, called. Soto was immediately on his way to his mate and Diego politely waited outside. But when no-one called out to him or came out from the cave he began to worry. After several minutes more waiting Helen walked out with her head bowed in sadness. She looked Diego in his eyes before silently shaking her head and disappearing.

Diego felt the worry grow until he couldn't take it anymore. He walked to the cave's entrance and stopped.

"Hello?" he asked softly and waited.

"Come in" he heard Soto's dull reply. Diego walked in, almost afraid. To his great relief Mira slept soundly on the floor with Soto sitting motionless beside her. But the cubs… Where was the cubs? And then he saw it. A small, newborn cub lay curled up into ball next to its sleeping mother.

"Only… Only one?" he asked in disbelief. Soto nodded without looking at him. Silence stretched out between them. "The other cubs… They… they didn't…"

"I'm sorry", Diego whispered turned to the floor.

"We're going to call him Adriano", Soto spoke suddenly. Diego sucked in a breath and hoped it wasn't heard. "You know… I think it would be fitting, having something after dad…" he said uncertainly.

"It's perfect", Diego quickly assured him. He smiled to the little, still blind cub. "Welcome to the world, little Adi."

"Maaa", Adriano whined and pulled at Mira. Benito chuckled quietly and Diana smiled. Adi turned hopeful eyes to Soto. "Pa?"

Soto laughed. "Sorry son, no more playing now."

Krista tried to stifle her own laugh as the two week old cub glared up at his father. Adi finally turned to Diego with pleading eyes. "Di?" he asked sweetly.

Diego almost choked. Soto looked mildly surprised but smiled nonetheless. "Sure, kiddo", Diego answered without caring about Mira's frown.

No kid liked sleep time, anyway.

There was no warning. None at all. It all happened too fast, too sudden. It wasn't supposed to happen! The pack had calmly begun their travel south: all sabers didn't do that, but when there was no prey around, the sabers couldn't stay. After all, they would come back next year. Unfortunately the humans wanted saber furs to keep warm for the winter.

The wind blew from the sabers direction, carrying away the humans scent. They used weapons: long, sharp spears and shorter, just as sharp, arrows. There was no time to react. One minute everybody was chatting happily, Tito walking next to Diego, the next three sabers fell dead to the ground.

Tito had gasped and staggered forward before falling to the ground with an arrow buried in his neck. And then a hell broke loose. The humans were cowards: instead of facing them in a real battle they kept hidden a good distance away. Hidden with quivers filled with arrows and bows ready.

More and more sabers fell. Diego couldn't even see whose blood covered the ground. He was dimly aware of staring down on Helen's lifeless body and seeing Benito howl in pain as an arrow barely missed him and scraped his shoulder. Despair, anger, hate, sorrow. Blood smell was clinging tickly to the air, making Diego feel sick.

He quickly shook away the illness and focused. Now he could see the humans closer: they were ready to finally fight them face to face.

Soto roared bloodthirsty to threaten the filthy humans, preparing to meet them. However the effect was a bit destroyed when he stood in front of Mira and Adriano, desperately trying to protect them.

"Diego!" Benito hissed and came to stand behind him. Diego turned to look at his brother, whose eyes were desperate. "Come on, you know we can't do this! We can't run to meet the humans: not now when so many are hurt! We can still run away", he pleaded.

"A saber does not flee", Diego corrected him, even if he himself thought the same. They hadn't even attacked the humans yet. But nothing could stop the fast, deadly spears that were thrown at them.

Diego's eyes widened and he threw himself to the side, barely missing being hit. He breathed out in relief and turned around –

"No", he breathed. Benito stared in shocked surprise at the long spear that caught him straight in the chest. "NO", Diego roared again and hurried forward as his little brother fell.

Benito was dead before he hit the ground. Blind, green eyes stared and his face lay still in the mud stained with blood. Diego turned towards the humans, shaking of rage. Then he attacked. Biting, clawing, kicking, killing, anything to get rid of so many humans as possible.

He had never hated himself so much. Why, oh why did he have to duck under the spear?...

Diego shuddered and stared at the fake Adi. He was killed in the fight as well. Soto's roar of rage and utter despair still echoed in his ears. Diego forced himself to not think about the other bodies. And failed. Diana was killed trying to protect little Adi, as well as Mira was.

Finally they had to retreat, and Soto literally had to be dragged away. Krista had been right behind them, but in the end…

…The only survivors were Soto, Diego, Oscar, Lenny and Zeke. They never found the dead bodies, except for bones and…and flesh left in the forests. The furs was kept by the humans.

And sometimes… Sometimes Diego wondered if he had done the right decision by helping Manny and Sid return Pinky to his herd.

The saber's head hit the ground with a soft thud and he looked up at Adriano. "I'm sorry", he murmured quietly.

Adi smiled again. "Di", he repeated and nuzzled his uncle's head. Diego could almost, almost, feel the cubs head against his own.

"Come on, Diego…" he heard another voice, just as real as if the person actually was there. Diana, his sister smirked quickly towards him before fading away. Benito's face appeared too, and Diego let himself believe for a short while believe it wasn't just an imagination. After all, they say before you die you see your whole life flash before your eyes. Diego snorted lightly.

"You gotta let go", Krista's voice whispered before all of them disappeared.

Diego struggled for air. There… was no left. And his lungs burned, and his vision blurred again.

"Diego?" a voice exclaimed. Diego frowned weakly. That was no voice from his pack… Still, he knew that voice – but who was it?

"Hey, dude!" a second voice shouted in his ear. Diego couldn't answer. Didn't they see he was dying? Why couldn't he have some rest? He was so tired…

The two annoying voices chattered quickly and he could hear their fear. One of them hurried away while shouting something. Then Diego recognized the scent…

Possums…

GirlFromNorth: And that's it

Blondie: I noticed...

Benito: Did you just KILL me?

Mysterious H: In case you didn't notice, yes.

Diego: Jerk...

Manny: So there's only one more chapter?

GirlFromNorth: Yep!

Everybody except GirlFromNorth: Phew!

Reviews -if anyone forgives me, lol- are loved!