A/N: Yay, I got my first reviews ever! Thanks Omnitrix 12 and Aqualina111! So here's chapter three of Strange Blue Eyes.
Disclaimer: Still don't own Ice Age... I'd be cool if I did, though.
In her burrow the next day, Sapphire was thinking about Peaches and Louis, especially Louis. She hadn't seen a lot of molehogs around the area, especially since the continents split. The journey she and her siblings had to go on to get to their new home here was really something. She thought Peaches and Louis were nice enough, but she was unsure if she should hang out with them. She hadn't let them see her face, or the left side of it that is, so they didn't have a chance to make fun of her and call her a freak. If she were to make friends with them, eventually they would have to see the rest of her face, opening herself to ridicule from the people she thought were her friends. She told Zack and John about it that night when she came back.
"I thinks it's a good idea, sis." John told his sister. "Seeing as how don't really have a lot of friends, or any for that matter."
"Yeah, and if they think your face looks ugly and they don't want to be your friends after that, well then it's their loss." Zack agreed.
She supposed she could try to hang out with them since she had nothing to lose. She was already known for having an ugly scar and being an outcast, so nothing would change if she were rejected now. While trying to cover her eye with her fur, she had to explain to Jackson and Molly why she was spending more time on her fur and less time playing with them.
"I'm meeting some people today and I want to look good."
Molly just smiled at her, "But sissy, you already look really pretty."
Sapphire gave her sister a hug , "Aw, thanks Little Boo." She smirked "And nice try, buttering me up isn't gonna work this time."
Sapphire faced her younger brother, "And I knew that was your idea Jack, I saw you whispering in her ear before you guys came over here."
Jackson looked defeated, "Come on, we just wanna spend time with you Sapph." He looked at her with huge green eyes with tears welling up in them. And there was no way Sapphire was immune to the cuteness. They had defeated her once again.
"Argh, fine. But only ten minutes."
The two children cheered and ran outside to wait for their sister to come play with them, Sapphire couldn't wait until they got older and didn't want to play with her anymore. She sighed and exited the burrow only to be tackled by the younger molehogs. All that time spent on her fur was now completely wasted.
Louis had arrived at the cave where the herd lived and generally hung out. He told Peaches about his plan to find Sapphire.
"It sounds like a good idea! Sapphire looked like she needed a friend. She kinda reminds me of you when I first met you."
Louis nodded, remembering the day he met Peaches and how nervous he was, partly from her size and partly because social situations made him nervous because he never really was very social and still somewhat isn't.
"Well then we should go find her. It won't be too hard to find her, right? All we have to do to find her is follow any dirt trails that don't belong to me, there aren't many molehogs around here." Louis said to her.
With that, the two bid the herd goodbye, promised to be back one hour after sunset, and ventured into the forest on an expedition to find a certain blue- eyed molehog. After searching for an hour they found a fresh trail (that didn't belong to Louis) and followed it, not knowing if they were following it in the right direction. But eventually they came across a hole at the end of the trail and an adolescent female molehog only a few feet away from it. She kept swiveling her head from left to right then back again, like she was looking for something.
"Hi there!"
Sapphire let out a loud, high- pitched girly scream while spinning around at the sound of Peaches' voice. Realizing it was just the two animals she was looking for she sighed in relief and put a hand- like paw on her chest, breathing heavily.
"You, you almost gave me a heart attack."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's alright."
Louis looked at her curiously, "So what were you looking for? Did you lose something?"
"Actually, I was looking for you. My brothers thought it would be a good idea for me hang out with animals my age and I figured I had nothing else to do, so why not, right?"
Peaches smiled, "Cool, let's go then. Louis and I are having a marco polo rematch after he beat me yesterday and it would be way more fun with more than two people."
Sapphire cringed a little. She always had some problems with swimming, but she still wanted to hang out with them so she hoped to still make it work. She quickly banished the slightly worried look from her face and followed them to the beach where Louis and Peaches were playing only a day earlier. Once they reached the large expanse of sand, Sapphire gazed upon the pristine, smooth as glass water with apprehension building up inside her. As Peaches and Louis ran into the water she only walked to the water's edge and slowly stepped into the liquid, only soaking her feet.
Louis looked over at his new acquaintance and noticed she was barely in the water, and looked like she wasn't going to go any further. Tapping Peaches to get her attention then nodding over at Sapphire, he wanted to know why she wasn't coming in.
"Come on Sapphire, what's wrong? We know the water's cold but come in, you'll used to it!"
"Um, the water isn't the problem."
Peaches was confused, "Well, what is it then?"
Sapphire tensed up, "I, uh-" she paused, "I can't really swim. At least not that good anyway."
Peaches and Louis looked at each other, then back at Sapphire. Louis then wadded out of the water and stood beside Sapphire. "I can teach you." he said, "It's not that hard and it's a really good skill to have." Sapphire blushed at his close proximity but nevertheless agreed to let him teach her.
"Well first thing first," he started, "You have to get in and let your body get used to the cold water. Submerging yourself is the easiest way to do it." So he ran back into the water and rejoined Peaches and she followed suit, running in just far enough for her to be able to go under, but not far enough to be over her head. She held her breath and submerged herself, the fur on her head sticking to her when she resurfaced.
But her fur was sticking to her away from her face, exposing the dark gray, furless and slightly wrinkly scar that completely engulfs the entire area around her left eye from the side of her nose to an inch past the corner of her eye, and from her lower eyelid to her eyebrow. She didn't notice her fur was out of place until she heard the sudden intake of breath from the two animals in front of her and the sudden widening of their eyes. She touched the scarred area and immediately wanted to cry. She needed to give some kind of explanation, make herself sound less like a freak a more like the hurt girl she was. Although she preferred people's pity more than their rejection, neither are ideal.
"Please, l- let me exp-p-p-plain." she shivered in the freezing water.
Peaches put her trunk on Sapphire's shoulder, "You don't have to explain if you don't want to." Sapphire looked at Louis, whose expression went from shock to understanding. He smiled and decided it was best to change the subject. "We understand, you don't have to explain. But with that aside, how about we get back to that swim lesson."
Sapphire was ecstatic, this was a first for her. No one has ever just waved off her scar like it was no big deal like that before. "Okay, cool! So what do we do first?"
For the rest of that day, the trio taught their newest member how to swim, played marco polo, made sand castles on the beach, and just hung out and talked about various topics. They decided to leave the beach at sunset, wanting to have enough time for their fur to dry before they had to return to their homes. Walking through the forest, Sapphire started to tear up sitting on one of Peaches' tusks, raising concern from Louis, who was sitting across from her on Peaches' other tusk, "Hey Sapphire, are you okay?"
Sapphire smiled wider than she had in a long time, "I couldn't be better Louis. I'm just really happy because you guys were the only one's besides my family that have seen my nasty scar and didn't make fun of me and tell me to go away."
"Really, were the only ones? Well shame on all those people who made fun of you. Everyone knows it's what's on the inside that counts." Peaches replied. Louis agreed with her, "It really is surprising were the only ones."
"Well I know first hand that kids are cruel. It's been happening since I got this scar."
"I know too." Louis sympathized, "There is this group of mammoths who used to make fun of me because I was smaller than them and really shy. They tolerate me now but it doesn't excuse what they did to me."
"Oh, sorry about that." Sapphire responded.
"So, do you wanna hang out tomorrow?" Peaches asked.
"Sure, where do we meet?"
"How about we meet in that small clearing surrounded by those pine trees?" Louis suggested.
"Okay, I'll see you both tomorrow then." Sapphire said as Peaches let her down on her trunk.
With that they said their respective good byes and Sapphire tunneled off in the direction of her burrow. "Interesting girl," Peaches said, "She's very fun to be around."
Louis agreed, "Yeah, and her eyes..." he let the sentence trail off.
"Yeah, she has a scar but it's not like it's that bad, right? I mean, it could look worse."
"No, not the scar. It's her eye color. Her eyes are blue but, not it's not a natural blue, they're very dark."
"Her eyes are dark blue? I thought her eyes were brown. Shows how much I pay attention to details, huh?" Peaches replied sadly.
"It's not your fault Peaches. She's small compared to you so you probably weren't close enough to get a good look." Louis told his long time friend.
"I guess. So anyway, I should go home. My dad will flip if I'm late." Peaches said as the night began to grow darker.
"Okay, then," Louis said as Peaches let him down on her trunk, "I'll see you tomorrow. Bye Peaches."
"Bye Louis."
Louis tunneled in the direction of his burrow, thinking about the events of the day. Sapphire, then the swimming lesson he gave her, then her scar. He had a good day, but of course everyday he spends with Peaches is a good day. Everyday with Peaches and now Sapphire as well.
Sapphire arrived at her burrow and walked into the entrance, smiling with joy. As she walked into the living room, she was spotted by her brother John, sitting in a stone chair carving a piece of wood with a fish bone knife, "Someone looks happy," he said to his sister, "Can we all assume you had a good day today?" Sapphire looked at John, then at Zack who was grinning and gave her a thumbs up. "Yeah I had a good day. A wonderful day actually. Peaches and Louis are great friends, and I can't wait to hang out with them tomorrow."
"Told you so!" Zack mocked loudly, "I told you so, I told you so, I told you so!"
"Wow, how mature, Zack. Aren't you supposed to be my older brother?" Sapphire said while her brother laughed.
"Hey, what can I say? I'm a kid at heart!" he replied.
"Yeah, that's why Becca likes you so much." John commented. Becca has been Zack's girlfriend for six months. "And keep it down, Jack and Molly are sleeping."
"Speaking of sleeping, I think I'm going to bed, I've had a long day. G'night." Sapphire said as she yawned.
"Okay, good night sis." John replied. Sapphire retreated to the room she shared with John and Zack and practically collapsed on the grass bed she slept on. She was reminded of how much she longed for her own room, or at least to share a room with Molly. Maybe that change would come soon, but at that moment all Sapphire could do was fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.
A/N: So the third chapter is up. And I think it would be a good idea for you to know the ages of the main characters in this story (in human years, of course.)
Peaches- 16
Louis- 16
Sapphire- 15
John- 19
Zack- 17
Jackson- 8
Molly- 6
I thought this might help you visualize the characters better. Review!