Hey! So, I felt really bad for giving you guys such a short chapter last time, so I wrote this directly after. I shouldn't have to say this, as you've probably caught on by now, but Taz belongs to scoobs5601 and she's from Inside A Red Notebook.

BTW, I don't know whether you guys have heard of a new-ish band called Everyoung, but I went to their concert earlier today and it was really cool! That was random, but I just had to say that! :P

Oh, and I need some new villains, so if you guys give me a name and an animal, I'll make an OC for ya :) But a bit of a bio would help too. Or if you have an OC villain you'd like me to include, then go for it and send me their bio :D

Okeyz, onto the story xD

After half an hour, Diego decided enough was enough. He gathered up the herd, and organized two search parties for Shira. Some members, Squint, Gupta, Crash, Eddie, Buck, Flynn and Boris, stayed behind in case Shira came back on her own. And to watch Rhianne, Herbert and the cubs, of course.

Raz, with Peaches, Louis, Meghan and Tasmin (who they'd found on the way, and who hadn't told them about Mikayla yet) following, and Silas flying overhead, was hopping through the trees when she heard sobbing. Signalling to the others, she peered around the large tree she was standing behind, and was shocked to see her sabre-toothed sister curled up on the ground, crying into her paws.

"Shira!" she exclaimed, hurrying over and pulling the silver sabre into a hug "Wha 'appened to ya?"

She mumbled something, but Raz didn't catch what it was. At that moment she didn't care, she just wanted to keep her sister safe and healthy. Just then, Peaches noticed Raz was holding a bleeding and shivering Shira.

"Oh my gosh, Auntie Shira, are you okay?!" Peaches was so caught up in seeing her aunt's pain that she didn't realise how loud she was talking, or how hard she was squeezing her aunt with her trunk.

"I'll be fine as soon as you stop crushing my lungs!" gasped Shira quietly. Peaches loosened her grip, but still left her trunk around the sabre's shoulder.

"Who did this to you?"

"B-bears," she managed to get out. Raz kept her arms wrapped around the sabre, not really believing her bear story but deciding that it wasn't important at that moment in time, while Peaches rushed to get the rest of their group. Once everyone was done fussing over Shira, Raz lifted her up and carried her limp form back to camp.

"Hey Taz, could ya go find the others an' bring em here?" she asked. Taz nodded.

"Sure thing!" she replied, before running off into the trees. Raz sighed, hoping that Shira wasn't too badly injured...

Manny, Diego, Mikayla, Ellie and Sid were wandering through the trees, trying to find Shira. Of course, they didn't know she was already back at home, but they were about to find that out. Manny noticed how tense Diego was.

"Look Diego, we'll find her. She probably just went for a morning run or something!"

Diego sighed. "I know, I know, she's probably fine. It's just, when I got her back yesterday... I vowed to myself that I would keep her safe and sound no matter what, and that's already been broken... man, I suck."

Suddenly, Mikayla felt something she'd never felt before: Guilt. It was only a tiny feeling nagging away at her, but it was new to her. She shook her head; it wans't her fault Shira left! Sure, she'd said some mean stuff, but she didn't tell Shira to run away crying like an idiot! Or that Taz girl, for that matter! So, why was she feeling this 'guilt'?

Not far away, up on top of the small hill they'd just walked down, Taz scampered around, trying to find them. She succeeded in spotting them, but while she was jumping up and down in victory, she lost her footing and fell. Luckily, she hooked her tail around a low branch of a tree, causing her to swing in front of Sid's face, startling him.

"Man, I love havin' a tail!" she said with a grin, swinging back and forth a few times before stopping abruptly "Gah, blood rushing to my head, blood rushing to my head!"

Ellie wrapped her trunk around Taz and gently lifted her off the tree branch, allowing the possum to sit on her tusk. Taz thanked her, before remembering why she'd been sent out to find them in the first place. But of course, she had to deal with Manny and his many questions first.

"Taz? Where were you earlier? When did you-"

"Dude, can we play twenty questions later?" interrupted Taz "Coz there's a serious back at the caves!"

"What's the problem?" asked Ellie, before her mate could ask more questions. Taz sighed, not particularly wanting to say the terrible truth, but one look at Diego's desperate, longing face and she knew she had to.

"Raz found Shira, but-"

"Shira? She's safe? She's okay!" Diego gabbled, his eyes lighting up with hope.

"Well..." Taz tried to figure out how to word what she was trying to say "She's safe now, but she's not exactly 'okay', as such..."

Before Diego could panic again, Ellie spoke up once more. "Alright, where is she?"

"Raz is taking her back home," answered Taz, before whispering in Ellie's ear "Thanks for stopping the questioning!"

Ellie grinned, and they set off for home, Diego running in the lead.

Back at the herd's home, a very shocked Squint was ushering Raz (who was still carrying Shira) into the pirates' cave. There weren't any proper beds in there yet, so it was more appropriate for a temporary hospital cave, and anyway Gupta was set-up there to heal, so it made sense to put Shira in that cave.

"Vait, vhat's happening?" asked Gupta, in a very confused manner as Raz went to set Shira on the ground.

"Don't!" exclaimed Squint "Her wounds could get infected. Peaches, Meghan, go get a smooth rock for her to lie on."

The two mammoths rushed out of the cave, returning soon after with a large, shiny rock big enough for Shira, Diego and the cubs to sleep on, as they'd assumed Diego wouldn't leave her side. Between them, they all managed to explain what happened to Buck, Gupta and Squint, or at least what Shira had told them.

"Okay, here's what I think happened," began Buck, as Squint rushed out to get something to clean the rock "Sabre's walking in the forest. Bears attack sabre. Sabre is unable to fight back. Leaving sabre-" he paused for dramatic effect "-a vegetable."

"Buck, vhen exactly did you lose your mind?" asked Gupta, as Raz face-palmed.

"About sixteen years and three months ago. I woke up one morning-"

"Married to an ugly pineapple, we know!" Peaches interrupted him "We're in a serious crisis here! This is no time for stories!"

Buck retired to the back of the cave, grumbling to himself. After Squint had returned and cleaned the rock, Raz placed Shira down and asked Squint what to do next.

"Okay, well we're gonna need-" began Squint, but he was cut off by Diego frantically running into the cave.

"Where is she?" he panted, before seeing his mate lying on the rock, her wounds still untreated and exposed. He gasped, and was about to run over and kiss her, but Squint stopped him.

"Easy there, you might hurt her!" he fretted "Look, if you wanna help, lick her wounds clean while I get something to bandage them with."

Diego nodded, before carefully lying down beside Shira and licking the small scrape on her neck, as it was the first injury he'd spotted. Suddenly, he felt something with a different texture to Shira's fur, and discovered a vine around her neck, attached to a small, leaf pouch that rested against her throat. Deciding it could wait, Diego returned to cleaning his beloved's wounds, occasionally giving her a quick kiss on the cheek when she flinched.

"Don't worry, you're safe now," Diego murmured, leaning close to her ear as he added "Kitty."

Even though she was badly injured, Shira's temper still flared up."Don't. Call me, K-Kitty!" she finally managed to say, before relaxing against his chest and allowing him to lick her cuts. By the time Squint got back, Shira's wounds were long since cleaned, and he wasn't at all surprised to find Diego kissing her gently. Gupta hadn't stopped them, and everyone else had left to get things for Squint or explain everything to the rest of the herd.

"Alright, break it up, break it up!" Squint pushed the two apart "Are all her wounds clean?"

Diego nodded. "Every one."

"Great," replied Squint "Now Shira, so I'm just gonna bandage you up, okay?"

She nodded, and he began to wrap sleek, soft leaves around her wounds, fastening them with vines. Peaches soon got back with a special kind of leaf, one that had a naturally sticky side, for the cuts on her neck and back. Using the knife he'd returned to Buck, Squint scraped some of whatever made the leaf sticky off, leaving that area soft, and stuck it over the scrape on her neck, repeating the action with the slices down her back and sides.

Diego watched worriedly the whole time, repeatedly kissing the top of her head and at one point nibbling her ears. Shira, her pain now mostly gone, smirked.

"Y'know, last time I checked, Gu- I mean, the bears didn't touch my ears!" she teased. Diego, luckily not picking up on her slight mistake, just smiled, and continued to nibble her ear. When Squint was finally done treating her, Boris was sent to get the cubs. He returned shortly after, with seven cubs piled on his back. Squint helped him set them all down beside their mother, where they eagerly nursed.

"I can't wait for these guys to grow out of this!" whined Shira, snuggling into Diego's chest. He chuckled softly.

"Well you've got a while to go, they're still practically newborns!" he laughed, stroking her cheek. She scowled.

"You think it's so funny? You try having seven cubs biting at you with their sharp little teeth!" she complained. He sighed and nuzzled her, wrapping his forelegs around her and lying down, indicating that he wasn't planning on moving.

"Hey Diego," came Squint's voice "I wouldn't get too comfortable, I think Shira could use some proper meat."

Diego nodded, and was out of the cave in a flash. Shira sighed, annoyed that she hadn't had time to protest against him hunting for her. But a small part of her was glad, as she really did need some actual meat, and obviously she wasn't up to the job herself.

When he returned later with a dead gazelle (which, according to Taz, smelled worse than Sid), Shira eagerly ate her fill, but even with her extreme hunger she was polite enough to wait until the others had left the cave, including Gupta, who Raz carried carefully. After a few large bites, she began coughing, as she'd been eating too fast. Diego grinned, and slid the carcass away from her.

"Hang on, you'll choke," he said, nuzzling her until she stopped coughing "Okay, here's a compromise."

He delicately cut off a small slab of meat with one claw, and instructed Shira to open her mouth. She did so, and he carefully placed the chunk of meat between her teeth for her to chew. They repeated this until Shira was full. She wasn't too happy about being fed like a baby, but she did think it was quite sweet of Diego to be so worried about her. Diego quickly ate until he was full too, and after dragging the left-overs a good way from the herd's home, so they wouldn't be disturbed by scavengers, he lay beside her on the rock, calling to the rest of the herd.

Gupta was returned to his bed, his injured leg propped up by a solid yet comfy chunk of moss. Squint confirmed that Gupta's ankle was twisted, and he'd treated it as best he could. He then gave both his patients water in a turtleshell each, but unbeknownst to them, he'd squeezed a small amount of Lotus berry juice into the drink, not enough to paralyze them, just enough to make them fall asleep.

Shira was obviously in pain from the attack, and Gupta's leg was hurting again because Squint had been checking it over, so it was better for both of them if they were unconcious. Diego, on the other hand, was apparantly more paranoid than the herd thought, because when he noticed that Shira was asleep so fast he panicked a little.

Squint rolled his eyes. "Relax Diego, I put some Lotus berry juice in her drink. And Gupta's, of course."

"Wait, you drugged her drink?!" exclaimed Diego in fear.

"Man, 'drugged' sounds so ugly!" muttered Squint "And anyway, it's for her own good! She can't feel her pain this way!"

"Okay, okay," sighed Diego "Thanks for helping her."

"No problem, she's my little sister," he said without thinking "Uhm, I mean, anything for a crewmate! I gotta go, uhm... do something, be back soon bye!"

As he raced out, Raz smiled. "Ignore 'im, 'e doesn't like ta admit we're like a family."

Diego smiled back, knowing the feeling from his early years in the herd. He then returned his attention to his own mate, who was snuggled into his chest. After a short while, the seven cubs fell asleep too, and Diego wrapped his forelegs around Shira's body, gently licking her neck. He didn't fully believe her bear story either, but he didn't care enough to question it. He was just glad she was safe now. If she didn't recover properly from this, he'd... no. He wasn't even going to think about that.

"I love you Kitty," he whispered in her ear, laying his head over hers. The rest of the herd dispersed to take naps, as it had been a very eventful morning, and Diego eventually drifted off to sleep too. Raz, Tasmin and Squint stood in the entrance of the hospital cave, Squint watching over Gupta and Shira in case he'd missed a wound or bandaged something incorrectly. He jumped when he felt Raz's hand on his shoulder.

"Woah, you scared me!"

Raz looked confused. "Wha'? 'ow did Ah scare ya? Ya knew Ah was 'ere!"

"I dunno, you just did," Squint shrugged.

There was an awkward pause before Raz spoke."So, Dr. Squint? Bet ya they didn't see tha' comin'."

"How could they? Even I didn't!" muttered Squint. Tasmin looked curious all of a sudden.

"Hey, Squint?" she asked.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Well, I was just wondering... how do you know all this medical stuff?"

Squint sighed. "I, I... it's not important."

Tasmin nodded, knowing when to stop. Raz gently tugged Squint's arm, gesturing for them to leave the cave.

"C'mon, let's leave em in peace fer a bi'."

Squint nodded, following Raz as she hopped out of the cave, Tasmin walking beside him. She knew it was none of her buisness, but Taz couldn't help wondering what secret Squint was keeping from her...

Alright, and that was Chapter 16! What didja think? What secret is Squint keeping? What is Gutt's plan? Will the others find out? Why is Buck so insane? Okay, no-one can answer that one, but still. Oh, and don't forget, name, animal, and a bio if possible, and I'll make an OC for you, but it'll have to be a villain.

In other news (you can skip this if you don't care), we had a surprise netball fixture against another school today, and 'Carly' managed to hit me full-force in the face with the netball within the first ten minutes. Yes, I'm pretty peeved with her right now... and then she was hinting that she wanted a lift home! Grr...

Anyways, thanks for reading and please review! xD