Hey everybody! Updating this story as soon as I can because a) people seem to want me to, and b) I need a pick-me-up because of my dumb friends and this story always cheers me up! This chapter especially! You'll see what I mean at the end. And I know that Rhianne and Herbert might've seemed random and pointless, but they play a role later in the story. Just a random note, Rhianne was actually named after one of my best friends, who has been going through a rather rough patch in her life, and although she'll probably never read this I just wanted to dedicate a character to her :)
Oh, and anyone whose been reading one of my other fic's, The Girls In The Ice Age, don't be surprised if that gets discontinued, because unless people actually want me to keep going with it I'm not going to, at least, I don't think I am. It's not that popular, and like I've already said 'The Girls' aren't even friends anymore, so I'll maybe post a Chapter 3, as I've started it, but that'll probably be it.
Bliss: Aw! That's not fair!
Me: Don't blame me. Blame my friends, it's their fault! Even though The Girls characters (Bliss, Tori, etc) get along fine, it makes me feel kinda sad because the real group isn't friends anymore. And anyway, if nobody really wants me to continue then I'm just making myself feel bad for no reason whatsoever. Thanks for understanding!
Don't own Taz, she belongs to scoobs5601, she's from Inside A Red Notebook and she gets a little gift in this chapter...
Taz: Ooh, what?
Me: You'll find out. Please read and review! Wait a second, wasn't it your idea in the first place?
Taz: Oh right, that little gift.
Shira's POV
Ow! What was tha-OW! Okay, guess I gotta go eat someone now. My eyes snap open, and let's just say I'm not best pleased to see Taz sat on my head, tugging at my earrings.
"Dude, what are you doing?!" I demand, batting her off my head. She folds her arms and sulks, but I can tell this isn't gonna be where it ends.
"I was just looking at your earrings..."
Ugh. I hate my conscience. First, it convinces me to give that witch of a sabre a flower, and now it's making me feel incredibly bad for little Taz. Nope, not apologising. Not apologising...
"Sorry Taz!" I sigh, giving in "I didn't mean to upset you, but you hurt my ear when you pulled my earrings."
"Oh, sorry," she says, standing up again "I didn't mean to pull them, I just find them very interesting. I've never seen an animal with earrings before."
"And now you've seen two," I smile at her, somehow finding this extremely sweet. She reminds me of Peaches...
"Yeah..." she sighs dreamily "Wait, what? How have I seen two animals with earrings?"
"Me and Squint..." I say, confused. She looks as confused as I feel.
"Squint has earrings?" she asks. I nod.
"You never noticed?"
She shakes her head, while I raise an eyebrow at her. It's strange, so many people don't notice his earrings, I guess mine are more obvious... being blue and green against silver fur and all...
"Hey, I've just had an epic idea!" she exclaimes, excited. Uh-oh...
"What?"
"You could pierce my ear!"
"Wait - seriously?"
"Sure, why not?" she shrugs "You must know how it's done, since your's has been pierced, and I wanna stand out from the crowd like you do!"
"Taz, you stand out from the crowd just by being yourself," I sigh tiredly, closing my eyes and resting my head on my paws again. Suddenly, I feel Taz climbing on my head again, most likely about to- OW! Yep, I was right. She's messing with my earrings again, and it hurts quite a lot.
"Okay," I open my eyes again "If I pierce your ear, will you stop tearing mine?"
She nods, and lets go of my green earring. Figures. It would be the biggest one she pulled on, wouldn't it? I sigh and stand up, shaking my sleepiness away. Taz hops off my head and lands neatly on the ground, her fringe flopping in her face.
"Woo!" she cheers, but I quickly shush her, as the last thing we need is the others waking up and finding out about this "Oops! Anyway, c'mon let's get this ear pierced!"
She tugged on her ear for emphasis, but she's forgetting two things.
"Yeah, two problems with that. One, we need to get Lotus berries first to numb your ear because trust me getting your ear pierced hurts like crazy. Two, we don't even have anything to use as an earring."
"... Okay, two valid points," admits Taz "But the sooner we start, the sooner we finish, right?"
I sigh, giving in again. I head off in the direction of the beach, where Lotus berry plants are the most common. Taz tags along after me, as she knows where I'm going, and that I can't get back without her.
...
Having found some juicy Lotus berries (and avoided the herd - bonus!), we head back along the clifftops. That was my idea - I've always loved cliffs. I don't know why, but for some reason they calm me. Plus they're great to run along, like I used to do with - no. I'm not thinking about him. He's gone, and I know he's never coming back. I hate that 'Mikayla' sabre about as much as I hated Gutt, but she is pretty and even I have to admit she's a great singer, heaps better than me. No wonder Diego wants her instead.
I sigh depressedly for what must be the hundredth time, and Taz decides it's enough.
"Okay, what's up?" she asks. I was tempted to roll my eyes carelessly at her, but denial is confirmation. "It's Diego and that thing, right?"
I don't respond, as like I said, denial is confirmation. But she's still giving me that look... I guess silence is confirmation too.
"Alright, you got me. Yeah, I'm upset about Diego! Happy now?"
She shakes her head. "No, because you're not. Now, how can I cheer you up?"
"You can't," I answer simply, because it's the truth "I'll never be cheery again."
"You weren't that cheery anyway..." she mutters, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to hear it. I decide to let it go, as I honestly don't have the energy to argue with her at the moment. Besides, she's just like me; stubborn and hard-headed. She never backs down, and neither do I. Suddenly, I spot two glistening shells lying in the long grass, the sunlight sparkling on them.
"Shira? What are you looking at?" asks Taz, but I don't respond because I'm concentrating. I pad over to the shells cautiously, examing them. They're both blue, but one's noticably paler than the other. Sort of like the sky and the sea on a sunny day, I guess. They're pretty small though, just about small enough to... hey, I have an idea.
"Hey Taz, remember how you wanted earrings?" I ask. She nods, so I carry on "Do you think that these would do?"
I hold up the two shells in one paw for her to see. Her blue eyes widen, and she nods in answer to my question. I grin at her.
"Okay then, let's go home."
I let her ride on my back, partly because she's tired and partly because she keeps looking at those shells so she'll probably trip and fall if she walks.
...
I stare down at her, not sure whether or not I should do this. She seems to want it, but I'm so afraid of hurting her. We're back 'home' now, and I'm about to pierce her ear. Well, I might be...
"Taz.. are you sure about this?" I ask uncertainly. She nods.
"Absolutely positive!" Sensing my hesitation, she adds "C'mon, I'm not one of the cubs! I can handle it!"
"I'm still not sure..."
She turns around and gives me that 'What am I? Five?' look, but as she does so her hair slides off her face again. I sigh in aggrivation, and after retracting my claws, gently brush it out of the way. Aww, she's so sweet, kinda like Peaches... I shake that thought off, and return to piercing Taz's ear.
Normal POV
Taz sat on a rock, waiting as patiently as she could for Shira to pierce her ear. Thinking her ear had already been numbed, Taz wondered whether the earrings were already in, and she just couldn't feel them yet.
"Are they in yet?" she asked impatiently. Shira rolled her eyes.
"No, not yet."
Taz chewed her lip nervously, wondering "I hope Louis think's they're pretty," she muttered to herself, forgetting that sabre's have sharp hearing.
"You like him, don't you?"
Taz froze in shock. How did she hear that?!, the possum wondered, eyes wide with fear.
"I don't know what you're tal - OW! Son of a-"
Shira rolled her eyes and removed her claws from Taz's ear, where there were now two holes. Taz clutched her poor ear, pouting at Shira.
"Why didn'tcha numb it first?" demanded Taz, her eyes wet and glossy. Shira blushed under her fur.
"Actually, I thought I had. Sorry, I was distracted."
Taz scowled, grabbed a Lotus berry and tried to slit the skin with her claws, which were too blunt for the job. Shira smiled, took the berry from Taz, pierced it with one claw and squeezed a few drops of juice onto Taz's ear. The possum muttered her thanks, rubbing said ear. Shira pried the possum's paws off of her ear, and got the shells ready.
"C'mon, we need to put the shells in now."
Taz sulked "But my ear might start hurting again."
"Yeah, but if we don't put in your earrings the holes will close up and we'll have to pierce them again."
Hurriedly, Taz let go of her ear, allowing Shira to attach the shells. The sabre carefully poked a hole in one shell, carving out a section of it so it would jangle, before clipping it to Taz's ear. Taz winced, even though she couldn't feel it. Shira grinned, and repeated the actions with the second, slightly darker, shell. Taz smiled when she heard that they were both in, and shook her head a few times, listening to her new earrings click together.
"Happy?" asked Shira. Taz nodded.
"So happy, I love them!"
"Great." Shira smiled at the little possum as she ran to a nearby sheet of frozen ice and admired her reflection.
"Yeah, great, amazing, CAN YA KEEP IT DOWN!" moaned Squint, rolling over and going back to sleep, seemingly disturbed by Taz's sounds of pain. Taz and Shira looked at each-other, then rolled their eyes. Shira padded over to Raz, who had reluctantly mumbled something about holding onto the cubs while Shira went earring-hunting with Taz. The sabre gently retrieved her seven children from the sleeping kangaroo, and lay down a few steps away, cradling the cubs to her chest.
Taz returned her attention to her reflection in the ice sheet, admiring the blue hoops in her ear. She grabbed a few locks of her dark hair, trying new styles to see which one looked best with her new accessories. She tried sweeping her fringe off her face completely, but then decided that it looked better hanging slightly over her eye. Carefully, she dipped her paw in the grass, collecting a few dew drops, and slicked her fringe into place. Shira was just falling asleep when...
"OMG! AUNTIE SHIRA!" screamed Peaches, running up to her sabre aunt and grabbing her with her trunk.
"Shunumbungers!" gasped Taz, leaping back in fright and falling off the small rock she was stood on. Little Tiny started squealing, as she was now squashed between her mother and her cousin's trunk.
"Hey Peach," gasped Shira, barely able to breathe "Think ya can stop suffocating me and my daughter now?"
"Oh, yeah, sure," said Peaches quickly, letting Shira and Tiny down onto the ground "Wait, daughter?!"
Shira nodded. "Yep, three of 'em. And four sons."
"OMG, You and Uncle Diego have seven kids?!" exclaimed Peaches. Shira nodded again, and gently arranged her children in age order in front of her. Peaches, Louis and Meghan's eyes widened in surprise, watching as Tiny blinked her intelligent blue eyes at them.
"You never mentioned you had kids!" said Louis accusingly, before turning to Taz, who was climbing out of the long grass. "Hey Taz!"
"Oh, uhm... hey Louis," Taz replied shyly, brushing her hair off her face nervously. Peaches raised an eyebrow at Meghan, and she nodded as they both thought the same thing: Those two have crushes on each-other.
"Erm... hey, you guys," said Squint a little awkwardly, catching the attention of the three teens who hadn't noticed the pirates.
"GAH, PIRATES!" Peaches jumped back, causing Louis to fall off her head, where he had been sat. Quick as a flash, Taz darted over and caught him, setting him down gently on the ground.
"Guys, guys, calm down!" Shira attempted to create peace between her neice and her siblings, while ignoring the pain of her children nursing. "The pirates are on our side!"
"They are?" asked Peaches, as Meghan was still too confused and afraid to do anything. "Since when?"
"Uhm... long story," sighed Shira "But the point is they aren't going to hurt you."
"Okay," Peaches shrugged "Now c'mon, we gotta get back to the herd!"
Shira's face noticably became paler at the mention of going back to the herd, images of Diego and Mikayla filling her head "Do I have to come?"
Peaches looked confused. "Well, you don't have to, but I thought you'd want to." Hoping to convince Shira to come back, she added "Uncle Diego's waiting for you."
"I know," groaned Shira "Why do ya think I don't want to go back there?"
"Wait, I'm confused..." said Peaches, and Meghan nodded "I thought you loved Uncle Diego. I mean, you guys have seven cubs!"
"And he's been a mess without you!" interjected Meghan quickly.
"Yeah, well I'm sure he's happy enough with Mikayla," replied Shira, with a certain edge to her voice. Peaches, Louis and Meghan all looked confused.
"Huh? He hates Mikayla!" Peaches blurted out, with her two friends nodding.
"Didn't look like that yesterday..." muttered Shira. Taz shot the sabre a sympathetic look, before running over stroking her silver head. Shira rolled her eyes, but nuzzled the little possum anyway.
"What do you mean 'Didn't look like that yesterday'?" asked Meghan. Shira sighed, but attempted to explain what had happened. The poor sabre broke down in tears, unable to say the awful truth, so Taz explained for her.
"Oh my gosh, that's... disgraceful..." breathed Meghan once Taz had finished the story, and Louis nodded. Peaches seemed determined all of a sudden.
"Alright, here's what we do. Me, Meghan and Louis will go back to the herd, because Dad'll be wondering where I am, while Shira - and Taz if she wants to come - follow us. The herd's going out for some 'family time' today, and we're having a campfire party later, so you and Taz can hide in the bushes, and then we'll still be able to see you. Kinda."
It took everyone a minute or two to process what Peaches had said, and then another minute to think it through again. Then, everyone was satisfied that it would work, except for Raz, who worried that it might upset Shira to watch the herd without talking to them.
"Razzy!" whined Shira, rolling her eyes "I watched them last night and I was fine!"
"Uh, 'kay..." sighed Raz "Wan' me ta watch the cubs fer ya?"
Shira nodded "If you don't mind."
"'Course Ah don't mind, Ah love the lil' ankle'bitah's. S'long as they don't move 'round in mah pouch too much."
Shira smiled and licked each of her cubs on the head before giving them back to Raz, who cuddled them. Shira then turned to Taz.
"You coming?" she asked. Taz thought about it for a moment, then shook her head.
"I think I'll stay here and help with the kids," she said, but in truth she just didn't want to risk seeing Diego and Mikayla kissing again. Plus Diego's long teeth unnerved her a bit. Shira sighed.
"Okay, I guess I'll see you later then."
Taz nodded "See ya."
And with that, Shira, Peaches, Meghan and Louis headed off into the trees.
Manny was pacing back and forth, muttering about wondering where Peaches was. Ellie rolled her eyes, knowing that Peaches was probably just hanging out with her friends. Of course, she didn't guess which friend in particular.
"Manny honey, I'm sure she's on her way home already!" Ellie assured him "She was probably just exploring with Meghan and Louis!"
"At this time in the morning?!"
"Why not?" agreed Sid "Remeber her sixteenth birthday? Y'know, when she snuck off in the morning and Shira-"
Sid quickly stopped speaking, as he'd realised his mistake. Diego tensed beside Mikayla, who subtly licked him on the cheek when nobody was paying attention.
"Shush! Not here, not in front of everyone," hissed Diego. Mikayla nodded, understanding. After what happened yesterday, they'd talked it over, and although they hadn't figured out what it meant, they'd agreed that the herd should definitely never know. Of course they didn't factor a certain sabre's return into that equation.
"Okay," she mumbled reluctantly, inching away from him slightly.
"PRECIOUS!" yelled Granny, hobbling into the clearing.
"Granny!" cheered Sid, running over and hugging his grandmother "I thought you were dead!"
"Can't a girl take a morning visit to her pet without people thinkin' she's kicked the bucket!" complained Granny, whacking Sid with her cane.
"What's a bucket?" whispered Crash to Eddie and Buck, who both shrugged.
"We're back!" announced Peaches, hurrying through the bushes with Meghan and Louis close behind. Shira stopped quickly, making sure she was hidden completely. While Manny went into one of his lectures, Diego squinted at the bushes. He could've sworn he saw two gleaming, blue lights, but they disappeared as soon as he spotted them.
Once Manny had finished talking, everyone got ready to leave on their family day out. Manny and Ellie - who had Buck, Crash and Eddie riding on her head - took the lead, with Sid and Granny following. Peaches -with Louis on her head - and Meghan walked along chattering quietly and glancing at the bushes, where Shira was watching them. Finally, Diego and Mikayla walked at the back of the group. Mikayla kept trying to talk about their kiss, but Diego refused to speak to her about it. The blue light in the bushes had reminded him painfully of Shira's azure eyes, and he felt incredibly guilty about kissing another sabre.
A few hours later
Silas flew in the air, Tiny on his back. He was talking the little child out for a ride, as she was bored and he decided she might want to see more of the island. Her big blue eyes grew bigger as she watched the world rush by, but her eyes grew even bigger as she recognised a familiar silver figure. They weren't very high, just tree-top level, so Tiny could clearly see the herd, her mother, and the strange tiger who looked just like her oldest brother.
Down below, Diego looked up at the sky and spotted Silas and Tiny. Recognising Silas instantly, he turned to Manny and yelled,
"Manny! Look! It's that bird from Gutt's crew!"
Manny looked up and saw the bird carrying the cub, as did everyone else, including Shira. She realised he was carrying her youngest daughter in the air, and mentally cursed herself for leaving them to take care of her kids. Quickly, the herd members, excluding Meghan, Louis and Peaches, began throwing stuff at Silas, trying to knock him down. They didn't succeed, but they did knock poor Tiny off his back.
The small cub tumbled to the ground, squealing and squeezing her eyes shut in fear. Without thinking, Shira leapt out of the bushes and caught the falling child in her mouth, nuzzlin her kindly before glaring up at sheepish Silas.
"Silas! Now look what you've done!" she yelled accusingly, indicating to the shivering cub in her paws.
"Sorry, soeur!" called Silas, to which Shira rolled her eyes. Cautiously, Ellie took a step closer to the sabre, but Manny wrapped his trunk around one of her tusks and pulled her back.
"Ellie! Be careful!" he said hurriedly. Ellie rolled her own eyes.
"Oh c'mon Manny, when has Shira ever been dangerou-" Ellie suddenly remembered that Shira was once a pirate "Okay, I see your point. But she won't hurt us!"
Shira smiled at her mammoth friend. "Thanks Ell. And Manny, shouldn't I technically be more afraid of you? I mean, you did kill me last Christmas!"
Manny blushed at the mention of his terrible mistake (If you haven't read Wish Upon A Star you won't get it.), and looked back at Shira fearfully. "Uhm, yeah... you're not planning any revenge attacks for that are ya?"
She sighed and licked Tiny's head. "Nah, not planning anything. I've kinda got a lot to handle at the moment."
Sid looked confused. "Wait, what do you-"
He was cut off by Diego's roar. The orange sabre leapt through the air, knocking Shira onto her back, and growled at her.
"Alright, stop right now!"
"Stop what?" she asked.
"Stop pretending you're on our side. You're obviously still working with the pirates, and you've obviously got a mate or something working with you too!"
Shira glared at him. "Yes, I'm with the pirates, yes I have a mate, but no, he's not exactly working with me right now!"
Now Diego looked confused. "What do you mean he's not 'exactly' working with you?"
"I mean he's pinning me to the ground, accusing me of being against him and his herd, and threatening me!" she snapped, tears in her eyes. Diego pulled back slightly, taking in what she'd said.
"D-do, you mean, me?"
"Duh!" she rolled her eyes at him.
"Err..." Diego looked from Shira, to Mikayla, then back to Shira, who glared at him.
"Now get off me," she hissed.
"But Shira, I-"
"Get. Off me."
Carefully, Diego stepped off her, allowing her to run back over to a very terrified Tiny. Peaches, Louis and Meghan hurried over to her, ignoring Manny's warnings, and attempted to comfort the silver sabre.
"Want me to go get Raz?" asked Peaches kindly. Shira nodded silently, cuddling into her niece.
"Raz? The crazy kangaroo? No way!" said Manny firmly "You're not going anywhere near her Peaches!"
"She's not dangerous, Daddy!" insisted Peaches "She's babysitting the other cubs and-"
"Other cubs?!" interrupted Diego "There are other cubs?!"
"Oh, yes," Everyone turned to Silas, who had landed on a nearby tree branch "Over there is little Tiny, ze youngest and littlest, and then-"
"Silas!" Shira shouted at him "Don't tell them about the cubs!"
"Hey, they're my cubs too!" protested Diego. Shira sighed, knowing he was right, lifted Tiny off the ground in her mouth, and placed the cub in front of Diego. His eyes grew wider, and he carefully leaned down towards the little child and licked her on the head. After several minutes of silence, Ellie caught everyone's attention.
"Hey guys, maybe we should leave Diego and Shira alone for a bit to, uhm, you know... catch-up."
There were general murmurs of agreement, and the herd hurried ahead, leaving the two tigers alone with their youngest daughter. Silas was still perched on his branch, not really wanting to leave his sister alone with Diego.
"Hey Silas," called Shira "Do you wanna, oh I don't know, get outta here?!"
He muttered something in French, before flying off to somewhere else. Shira turned back to Diego, a little nervously, but he just smiled at her. He walked closer, and although she tensed, she still didn't move away. Gently, he rubbed his head against her shoulder, purring quietly. Smiling, she licked the back of his neck, starting to purr herself. He wrapped his forelegs around her, pulling her close, before lying on the grass, holding her to his chest.
"Uhm, shouldn't one of us get Tiny?" said Diego, after a moment. Shira nodded, and attempted to get up again, but Diego gripped her tighter. "No way, I'm never letting go of you again!"
Shira rolled her eyes, but cuddled into him anyway. Keeping one arm firmly around Shira, Diego stretched one foreleg over to Tiny, pulling the cub close too. Shira kissed her daughter's cheek, then kissed Diego's neck. He chuckled and kissed her on the head.
"So, am I forgiven?" he asked. Shira was about to say yes, before she remembered he had kissed Mikayla.
"Well..."
"Well, what?"
"It's just... I saw you and Mikayla yesterday and-"
"Stop right there. I love you. I always have, and I always will. I didn't want to kiss Mikayla, she kissed me. The only animal ever alive that I want to kiss is you." Diego smiled as he felt Shira lick his neck. "Now, do I get what I want?"
In answer, Shira pressed her lips against his, making him blush. But he hugged her and Tiny anyway, purring as soon as they pulled apart. Shira giggled and kissed him again, smiling happily. Tiny looked up at her parents, but instead of acting grossed-out, she smiled, knowing how much her parents cared about each-other.
But not everyone was so happy about it. Watching from the bushes, Mikaykla growled lowly as Diego and Shira kissed.
"I'm gonna get you, Shira. Watch out."
Okay, what didja think? Good? Bad? Kinda late? (Yeah, yeah, I know!)
Huh, Mikayla out to get Shira. Ya know, I never planned that, but it's fitting into the story pretty good now, because-
Taz and the pirates: Don't ruin the plot!
Me:... I was just gonna say I know what's going to happen in the big showdown...
Taz: Oh, okay. Carry on.
Me: *rolls eyes* Thanks for reading and please review! And yay for the longest chapter yet! I think...