This one's by Cahaya Sidur, enjoy!

Shira woke up slowly, blinking blearily. She didn't know how long she had been out for. Stretching and wincing at the pain, she moved slightly, feeling a warm weight against her side. When she turned, she caught sight of Diego, who was sleeping peacefully.

Her heart warmed at the sight of him, before it was briefly diminished as she caught sight of the darkness outside. How long have I been asleep for?

The rest of the Herd was nowhere to be seen.

Shira moved more, only to wake Diego up. He sprang up quickly, eyes darting to hers quickly, examining her carefully. "Are you ok, Shira?"

"Fine," Shira attempted to keep her pain hidden, bearing a hopefully confident smile that must've looked nervous. Diego frowned.

"What happened?!"

Shira swallowed. She wasn't sure what to do now. "I…was getting water, and I…" She racked her mind to find an excuse, and settled for one. "May have tripped and fallen against a rock." Ok. Even she knew that that was the worst excuse. EVER.

Diego also seemed to think so. "Shira, you were nowhere near the river. And I heard you scream! What's wrong?"

Shira hesitated. "I-I-"

She looked at Diego, who was looking at her concernedly, hazel eyes displaying worry, fear, and, most of all, care. It looked so earnest that it took Shira's breath away. No one had ever looked at her like that before. Sure, Raz had a few times, but it was brief and sometimes seemed insincere.

Right there, Shira nearly cracked.

"Shira, what have you done?!"

But she didn't.

"I-I-I ne-I never-!"

The memories assaulted her, persistent and never-ending.

"You-you betrayed us?" The sabre asked, his eyes lighting up with confusion. "Shira, what's going on?"

"Shira?" Diego's voice and worried face broke through the thoughts.

"I-I-" Shira continued to stammer. "I…" She looked down. "You'll hate me if I do." She mumbled.

"What?" Diego asked, his voice lowered. He cautiously approached. Shira's breath hitched slightly in panic, but she didn't move as he stopped right next to her. "Shira, you-you know that I would never hate you for anything, right?"

"You will." Shira looked up, her face clouded.

"Shira," Diego attempted a weak laugh. "I killed my own pack leader and probably am the indirect reason that caused most of the pack to die, god, I don't even know if they're alive. What could you do that is so bad?"

Abruptly, Shira wanted nothing more than for Diego to leave so that she could break down. She couldn't deal with this - the tender gaze, the sweet smile, the adoration in his eyes.

"I did something terrible." Shira muttered. Her mind was racing wildly by this point. She couldn't bear to see it if Diego suddenly turned and told her that he never wanted to see her again. God, she hoped that never happened.

But if she told him - Shira let out a shuddering breath.

"Hey, hey, Shira." A warm body pressed against her own - slightly hesitant, though. For some reason, Shira felt her heart clench as she turned to Diego. "Don't worry."

Shira breathed out, eyes looking up to meet bright hazel ones, the intensity taking her breath away once more.

"I-" Shira looked down at her paws, scuffing the ground, before looking up again. "Diego, there's something you should-" A scream interrupted her. They both looked at one another, eyes wide, the air tense around them.

And then, they heard Ellie scream again as a thunderous sound filled the cave.

Looking at each other briefly, both raced out. The sight that met their faces had them stumbling back in shock.

"Oh my god." Diego breathed out.

Meanwhile…

"You think they're making any progress in there?" Sid asked, struggling to look around from Manny, who had blocked the entrance to the cave, per Ellie's request.

Ellie snorted. "Sid."

Manny sighed thoughtfully. "Let's hope so. Or else we're stuck tip-toeing around them the whole time."

Ellie sent a disbelieving look at him, trying to suppress a giggle. "Manny!"

"What?" Manny looked up at her.

Eddie and Crash looked up from where they had been hanging off a tree, but didn't say anything, eyes alight with mischief.

"What should we do to them?"

Ellie frowned, scolding them. "Both of you!"

"Oh, c'mon, Ellie. We're not doing any harm. And you have to agree."

Ellie sighed reluctantly, though there was a gleam of mischief in her eyes. "Sure, Sid." She turned back once. The cave was mostly quiet, although there was the sound of quiet muttering. Nothing could be gleaned from the conversation.

They sat in silence for a while, relishing in the quiet coolness of the night.

Pretty soon, they began to doze off, starting with Sid and the twins, who snored loudly. Ellie's eyelids were drooping by the time Manny had dozed off.

Ellie dreamed when her eyes finally closed.

They opened to a quiet night. She looked around, frowning in confusion. Where was the Herd?

She continued on, before hearing something in the woods. "Guys? Hello?" The shuffling continued. There was someone there.

Ellie moved closer to the edge of the forest, before gathering her wits and walking in cautiously, hearing something from beside her. A giant bush secluded the area.

Using her trunk to turn, her eyes went wide with horror as she backed away.

Shira and Diego looked up at her. Shira's eyes were completely blue, without any sort of pupils in sight, eyes wide in glee, unblinking. She was leaning vertically to Diego, who was staring straight at Ellie, eyes lidded and completely green and unblinking, like Shira's.

But that wasn't what concerned her.

What concerned her was the fact that Shira's teeth were coated with blood.

Blood that had come from the flesh wound in Diego's side.

And, as if sensing her discomfort, Shira smirked, and then dug her teeth into Diego's flank once more. Diego jolted slightly, but continued to look at her with a dazed expression.

Ellie screamed, unable to help it, before she was shocked out of the dream, panting heavily from the shock.

She looked around, wondering what had woken her (not that she wasn't thankful for that), but her eyes widened in fear as she backed away, letting out a blood-chilling scream.

She barely registered Shira and Diego sprinting out of the cave, freezing completely.

"Oh my god."