Hey, I'm back already! Yeah, I've had a lot of time today to work on stories because I've been in the house alone (by choice) because my 'friend' has been such a, uhm.. I can't say what she's been because I refuse to swear but she's been awful recently and made me cry for like half and hour just this morning because I let it get on top of me, but anyway I thought I'd update my stories again for something to do.
I hope you enjoy reading this, and sorry for the fact that it moves forward a month in time. I'm in a reeeaaally bad mood right now, which is why I'm not updating The Girls In The Ice Age coz it's the girl I based Carly on that I'm mad at and I don't want to do something to the character that I'll regret later. Like, broken limbs and stuff. Writing this did calm me down though, so thanks for encouraging me! :D
One Month Later
Shira lay on the floor of the cell, stroking her bloated stomach. She knew she still had about two months left in her pregnancy, and she was worried about what would happen during the last leg when she would be extremely big and when she would give birth to however many cubs she would have. She could only hope she'd be out of the cell and off the ship by then; she was kinda afraid of giving birth on a pirate ship to her first litter, and the fact it would be in front of her old siblings scared her even more. She wasn't sure how they'd react, and she was scared to find out...
Suddenly her stomach heaved, and she quickly turned to the small shaft that she always used when she was sick. She gagged at the awful taste in her mouth; she really hated the after-effect of throwing up. She lay back down on the cold ice, resting her burning forehead against the frozen wall of the cell in an attempt to relax herself. It worked. The cubs growing inside her often left her feeling extreme fatigue, and now was one of those times.
"...Shira?"
"Yeah, Raz?"
"Do ya wan' some wateh?"
"Yes please," she answered, although she was sort of wishing she could be alone. Raz was always there now, which Shira loved, because she'd missed her sister so much when she left, but sometimes Shira just wanted some time by herself, away from the world, to think, and she didn't have that anymore.
She repeated her routine of filling her mouth with water and spitting down the shaft, before sipping slowly at what water was left in the turtle-shell. Continuing to lie on the floor (she rarely sat up unless she had to, she preferred to be close to the cold ice floor), Shira rubbed her swollen belly with one paw, hoping that the cubs growing inside her could feel her gesture. She puked again, and Raz refilled the turtle-shell for her younger sister.
"I'm really getting tired of all this throwing up," groaned Shira, patting her stomach again. Raz sighed.
"Ah can imagine. I' seems like ya 'ave some stomach bug or somethin'," she said worriedly, pressing her hand against the ice-door "Come 'ere Sheila, Ah'll check ya temperature for ya."
Shira shook her head, too weary to move from her spot by the shaft. Anyway, she was still feeling queasy and expected to be sick again. If it's called 'Morning Sickness', why am I being sick all the time?! You'd think it only happened in the morning!, thought Shira gloomily, Not at any second! Oh no, not again...
Her stomach lurched and she was sick again, digging her claws into the ice to steady herself. There were permanent little groves in the ice around the shaft for Shira to put her claws in, groves that she'd made a month ago when she first threw up. Raz sighed again, scared to open the door and desperate to comfort her sister. The poor kangaroo had to settle for refilling the shell again and sliding it through.
"RAZ!" shouted Captain Gutt from above deck "What was that?"
"Shira was being sick," Raz called loudly, to which the Captain laughed hysterically.
"Alright, but she might be even worse after her dinner!"
Gupta scurried down to the lower deck, dragging a big, slippery eel. The creature was still alive, and it flopped about as it tried to escape the badger's claws. It knew as soon as it saw the sabre that it was supposed to be her meal, and it knew that it had no chance of survival. With some help from Raz, Gupta slid the eel into the cell. Shira groaned and hid her face in her paws, as she was scared she would cry and definitely didn't want her brother and sister to see her if she did.
"Here you go!" said Gupta, trying to sound cheerful.
"Shut up," muttered Shira.
"Hmm, vhat if I bring some nice fruit down for you later. Vould I be forgiven then?"
"Thanks, Gupta," sighed Shira, lifting her head "I just feel kinda sick."
"Ah'm sure i' will pass, Sheila," Raz assured her "Ya won't be ill in the mornin'."
Shira grunted in disagreement and grabbed the slimy eel, stabbing it with her claws, killing it. She turned her back on her siblings, well aware that they didn't enjoy watching her eat other animals, and sulkily started to eat the disgusting fish. After two mouthfuls she puked again, but carried on eating anyway. I hate eel!, she thought miserably as she sank her teeth into it, It's so gross! I'm sorry kids, I hate having to do this to you!
Diego sat in the long grass, watching a herd of antelope as they grazed and played with their children. He was starving, but he knew what losing a loved one can do to an animal, and didn't quite have the heart to do that to one of those calfs over there. At least not until he'd gotten over his greif. He'd lost so much weight recently; he hadn't hunted since he lost Shira. Mikayla hunted for him, he refused the meat. There had just been an arguement about that several minutes ago back with the herd...
Diego was lying on his stomach in the clearing, trying to ignore Crash and Eddie as they begged him to help with their latest crazy idea. Mikayla padded into the clearing, holding a gazelle by the neck with her teeth. She dropped the dead animal in front of Diego proudly, obviously showing off.
"Dinner's here!" she announced, licking her lips clean. Diego shook his head.
"No thanks. If I haven't killed the animal myself, I don't eat it. I also never share."
"But, you used to share almost every night with Sh-" began Eddie, but Diego flung him across the clearing.
"Don't. Say. Her. Name!" he hissed darkly. Crash looked confused.
"But he's right, Diego. You guys shared your meal almost every night! And she hunted for you sometimes, too!" pointed out the remaining possum, only to be flung over to his brother by an angry tiger.
"Why do you treat me so different, Diego? It sounds like you were super-sweet to that other sabre!" whined Mikayla childishly, pouting at Diego, who glared back.
"What, so now the love of my life is just 'that other sabre'?! You don't even remember her name?!"
"You said not to say her name!" protested Mikayla "And what does it matter now, Diego? You have me now, and I'll always love you, unlike that traitor who left you for some stupid monkey!"
"She didn't leave me!" snapped Diego "She was taken from me, Mikayla! We loved each-other to pieces, and we still do!"
"How would you know?! You haven't spoken to her?! And from what I heard, you two didn't exactly leave things on a good note!" Mikayla yelled, her eyes filling with tears "For all you actually know, she could be blabbering to that dumb crew about how much she hates you!"
Diego didn't answer, mostly because he knew Mikayla was right. There was every chance that Shira now hated him; he'd treated her terribly before they were torn apart. And he was just sitting here, doing nothing to save her, while she could be being tortured by Gutt! She'd been gone a whole month, and he hadn't gone out to find her! Of course she hated him! He had to fight back tears himself as he came to such a false conclusion, thinking he'd betrayed his beloved Kitty.
Without another word, Diego got to his feet and raced out into the trees, screaming at Mikayla not to follow him.
The golden sabre turned away from the antelope, tears rolling down his cheeks as he thought about his silver tigress. He knew he'd never see her again, but what he didn't know was that he was wrong. It was all part of Gutt's plan; Diego would have a breif reunion with Shira, but neither would survive. At least, that was the plan anyway.
Silas flew down to where Raz sat, holding an exotic fruit that the crew had not yet identified. Raz took it from him and slipped it into Shira's cell, smiling when her little sister's face lit up with joy. The silver sabre sank her teeth into the sweet fruit, ripping into it hungrily. She hoped her babies wouldn't mind the fact that it wasn't meat, and would just enjoy the juicy strips of sugary fruit.
"Mmm, I wish we knew what this fruit's called!" murmured Shira between bites, to which Raz and Silas nodded "It's so good!"
"Ah wish we could grow some of i'," agreed Raz "Anyway, ya feelin' bettah now?"
"A little," lied Shira, but now Raz had brought it up she felt like she was going to puke again "Still got a bit of a bad stomach though."
"Funny, you seem to be stomaching ze fruit alright," commented Silas. Shira shrugged.
"Guess it just agrees with me."
She tore the last succulent bite of the fruit off the core, and felt it burst between her teeth as she chewed. She swallowed hard, trying to get the delicious snack past the lump in her throat that had appeared when she thought of her future cubs. You see, whenever she thought of the cubs, she couldn't help thinking about their father, and that always put her in great emotional pain. To distract herself, she gnawed on the core of the fruit. Suddenly, she remembered what Raz had said, and rescued the seeds from what was left of the core, thinking that if she ever made it back to the island, she could plant them. She then finished off the core, seeing no purpose in leaving it.
"I'd better be getting back to ze top deck," sighed Silas "Ze Captain might notice my absence."
Raz and Shira both nodded, and Silas flew off. Shira then returned to licking the fruit juice off her paws, while Raz watched with apparant interest. Pretending to be unfazed, Shira ran her tongue over her claws, cleaning them up, as she had torn the fruit to pieces with them and annoying had chunks of fruit under her claws. Licking herself clean irritated Shira, as often when she got messy while eating, Diego would clean her fur for her, and she'd sort of gotten used to it. After the sabre sighed for the hundredth time that day, Raz decided enough was enough.
"Alright Sheila, wha's the mattah?" she asked "Ya've been sighin' all day, an' Ah know tha' the throwin' up ain't seasickness. Plus ya've been gettin' a fair bit biggah lately. Now don't 'ate me fer sayin' this, but are ya-"
"Yes, Raz," sighed Shira "I am."
"Well why didn't ya say somethin'? Ah could've helped ya out!"
"Sorry, I just wanted it to be kind of a secret, you know? Not open-news, if you get what I mean. It's just kinda... personal."
"Ah understand ya, Sheila, bu' Ah'm ya sista! Ya coulda told meh!" said Raz, hurt. Reluctantly, Shira dragged herself over to the ice-door, her belly heavy with the weight of her cubs. Raz shook her head at the sabre.
"Don't move too much, ya might hurt yaself or ya cubs."
"I won't, I've hardly moved in a month," pointed out Shira, reaching through the panel and gripped Raz's hand with one paw "And I'm sorry Raz, at first I was just afraid to talk about it, and then I was worried that if you knew and Gutt found out then he would hurt you. But you're right, I should've told my older sister."
Raz smiled sweetly at Shira, who blushed under her silver fur. Raz reached through the panel and gently combed the little bits of fruit out of Shira's fur.
"There. Now ya can be a prettah lil' tigress as well as a smart an' cunnin' one."
"Thanks Raz," replied Shira, nuzzling her sister's hands "You've been really nice to me this past month."
"Don't worrah, Sheila, Ah know tha' ya would do the same fer meh!"
"True..." muttered Shira sleepily, her eyelids starting to close.
"Now go ta sleep, ya need i' bad. An' ya might wanna go back near tha' shaft in case ya, well, ya know wha Ah mean."
Shira nodded, nudged Raz's hand one last time and moved back to where she had been lying before.
"Don't tell anyone," whispered Shira, to which Raz nodded and winked. Shira winked back before she fell asleep, resting her head on her paws. After a few minutes, a smile tugged at the corners of Shira's mouth, and her ear started twitching. She seemed pretty happy, happier than Raz had seen her for a while. The kangaroo assumed her sister was dreaming of playing with the cubs when they were born, or perhaps an exhilerating hunt, or maybe just about Diego... there was no end to the possibilites. Raz laughed quietly as she imagined what her sister could be dreaming about. Either way, she was just glad Shira was having a good dream for a change.
Tired and hungry, Diego trudged back to the caves where the herd slept. He still felt empty inside, but by the time his resolve had started to waver it was too late to hunt, so he still hadn't eaten a thing for about three days. Every now and then one of the herd members (more often Ellie or Peaches) would convince him to have a particularly juicy piece of fruit, and a few times he'd grudgingly agreed to eat grubs or bugs to get Sid to shut up. He did drink enough water to survive though, because thirst irritated him. He was so hungry he was very distracted as he walked along, so he failed to notice...
"WOAH!" exclaimed Diego as he fell face-first into a lake he hadn't noticed. He accidentally swallowed a lot of water and a small fish, so once he dragged himself out of the water he lay on his stomach in the grass, coughing violently. Out of nowhere, he felt someone rubbing his back with their paw, a gesture that was both familiar and completely alien. A new warmth appeared by his side, while the paw on his back made it's way around his neck, pulling Diego closer to the owner.
"Ya know, you look phenomenal when you're soaking wet," purred Mikayla, nuzzling Diego against his will.
"I know, Shira's told me," he replied in a clipped tone, stiffening beside her.
"Wierd, you talk about her a lot."
"So what if I do? She's everything to me."
"But baby, what about me?"
"Like I said, Shira is everything."
"Fine then, I just won't keep you warm tonight!"
"I... don't want you to," admitted Diego, to which Mikayla scowled and stood up. She stuck her tongue out at him childishly and stalked off, clearly expecting him to come running after her and apologise. To her disappointment, he didn't even watch her retreat. He just stared at the water in the pond and mumbled to himself. He was weighing up the pros and cons of building a ship and trying to find Shira.
"Okay, uhm... pro, I might get to see her again. Con, she might be dead." he shuddered "Er, pro, it would show Gutt not to miss with this herd. Con, I might drag the herd into a massive battle that could get some of them killed. Alright, another pro, another pro... I know! Pro, Shira would be around so I could prove to Mikayla that we do love each-other. Con, with Mikayla around, Shira might get jealous and somehow get the idea that I prefer Mikayla."
Diego sighed, unable to think of any more for the time being. He shook the water off his fur and headed back to his cave. He'd stopped sleeping in the mammoth cave when Mikayla started sleeping in the cave he once shared with Shira. The cave belonged to the two mates, and Diego wanted Mikayla out. And the only way to do that was to go back in himself.
But he didn't sleep on the big rock, that was too lonely and had too many memories attached to it. Instead he slept on the floor by the entrance, guarding an imaginary Shira from any harm. He dreamt about her that night, and hoped that if she was alive, she had dreamt about him.
So, what did you think? Sorry if it's not good, like I said I've been by myself today (not as bad as it may sound) and decided to work on this because I was anxious to see what you guys thought :)
Hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading/following/favouriting and please review! I NEED REVIEWS! They give me inspiration! Thanks again :D