K'so, the title kinda says it all here. *shrugs* But anyway, here it is. The chapter you guys will most likely hate me forever for. But don't worry; there are no deaths or anything. Taz, Dex and Bronson belong to scoobs5601, Rebecca belongs to Blumacaw13, you guys probably know the drill by now.*shrugs*
Alright, before I start the actual chapter, I ask you all to bear with what happens during this short-ish chapter. Oh, and thank you to money 100 for giving me the idea of Mikayla wanting cubs with Diego, because I needed a certain couple's break up to happen anyway and money 100 gave me a reason.
Diego looked deep into Mikayla's eyes. He took a slow step forward and... roughly shoved her away from him.
"Why would I have cubs with you? I already have a mate!" he snapped.
"Well, lots of males have more than one female! In a pack it raises your popularity!" persuaded Mikayla. Diego rolled his eyes.
"Do I look like I'm in a pack to you?! No! I'm a herd! And in a herd having more than one female doesn't make you popular, it makes you an insensitive, moronic, untrustworthy jerk!" he informed her. This is not going well..., she thought, Gutt's gonna kill me! Okay, okay, get back on track, Mikayla.
"Who cares what that herd thinks?" she asked, but she didn't mean it, now she knew she had gone way too far. If she hadn't seen what that monkey had done to Shira, she probably would've refused the plan in the first place, and refused his invitation to join his new crew. But she knew now that she had to try her hardest to convince Diego, or she'd get a bone sword through the neck.
Diego's angry look hardened further. "Who cares? Who cares?! I care, Mikayla! I care a lot!"
"Sheesh, no need to get moody..." muttered Mikayla under her breath. But Diego's sensitive ears still picked it up.
"Oh, well excuse me if caring about what my family think of me is considered moody nowadays!" his glare softened for a moment "Mikayla, you were my friend. I thought you'd changed, that you'd given up this constant, stupid flirting. Obviously, I was wrong, because as soon as my mate comes back into the picture, boom, you're Miss Obsessive again!"
Although he didn't know it, his words stung deeper than expected, bringing sharp, stinging tears to Mikayla's eyes. As he didn't expect this, his own fury was postponed for the moment to deal with the suddenly crying sabre.
"Woah, woah, I didn't mean to make you cry!" his eyes widened in worry "A-Are you okay?"
"N-No, I-I'm not..." she scrubbed at her eyes with one paw, claws retracted "I..."
"What's wrong? This seems like more than just what I said," Diego said tentatively. Mikayla couldn't answer, partly because it would ruin Gutt's plan, and partly because she was crying too hard to properly speak. Sighing, Diego checked over his shoulder to make sure no-one was around, and pulled Mikayla close for a hug.
"Shush, shush..." he whispered, rubbing her back "It's okay, it's okay, it'll all be okay..."
"N-No it won't!" she choked out "You don't understand!"
"Then explain it to me," he suggested, but she shook her head.
"I can't!" she wailed, releasing more tears.
"Why not?" he asked softly.
"Because- I, I just can't!" she sobbed uncontrollably into his chest, giving the not-so-remorseless assassain quite a shock; Mikayla had never struck him as the crying type. The two sabres sat there for a while, Mikayla allowing her tears to soak into Diego's neck, too upset to enjoy the embrace, while a small hummingbird watched from the trees.
"Man, the Captain ain't gonna like this..." muttered Hollie, before taking to the sky again.
Shira chewed her lip in concern. Diego was taking longer than usual, and she was worried that Gu- the bears, might've gotten him. Most of the cubs had fallen asleep, often being cuddled by a member of the herd. Tina fell asleep hugging Taz, who was now trapped between the sabre's paws, as did Casper with Louis, but the molehog could get away if he wanted, he just didn't. Lightning napped in Sid's arms, while Ranger lay indepently beside his mother on the rock, Crash and Eddie sitting nearby, watching over him. Squint, on the other hand, made sure to stay as far away from the cub as possible. Jade was being rocked to sleep by Buck, Ellie's trunk wrapped around her like a blanket. Hope was being hugged by Rhianne and Herbert, who were also napping soundly.
Kendall, though, was wide awake, sat on his mother's head, apparantly not sleepy. Shira scooped the young cub into her paws, pressing him to her chest.
"C'mon, Kenny, go to sleep," she whispered softly, but the cub shook his head. She sighed. "Do I have to sing to you?" she asked, to which he nodded "Ugh, okay then-"
"Wait," interrupted Squint "Iill get Raz to bring Gupta up so he can hear. Raz, could you-" he noticed the kangaroo's absense, then looked and saw that Gupta was gone too. "Raz..." he hissed, before running out of the cave shouting "I'm gonna get that marsupial miscreant!"
"Strange... I always thought Raz was a kangaroo, not a miscreant," commented Flynn. Shira didn't bother face-palming, she was used to Flynn's stupidity, and anyway, she'd lost count of how many times she'd effectively slapped herself in the face when she was a child and still getting used to her brother's ways.
Rolling her eyes, Shira began to sing her lullaby:
Deep in the meadow, under the willow
A bed of grass, a soft green pillow
Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes
And when again they open, the sun will rise.
Here it's safe, here it's warm
Here the daisies guard you from every harm
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you.
Yawning, Crash and Eddie curled up beside Ranger, who batted at them in his sleep, and slowly joined the cubs in the land of dreams.
Deep in the meadow, hidden far away
A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray
Forget your woes and let your troubles lay
And when again it's morning, they'll wash away.
Drifting asleep, Sid fell backwards, still holding Lightning. Forunately, Manny caught the sloth before he hit the floor, and Peaches picked up Lightning in her trunk, where he continued to sleep soundly.
Here it's safe, here it's warm
Here the daisies guard you from every harm
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you.
Here is the place where I love you.
Finally, Kendall fell asleep too, snuggled soundly against his mother's chest. This proved a problem, as she was intending to search for Diego after all the children where asleep. As if reading her thoughts, Manny gently plucked Kendall from Shira's grasp and cuddled him in his furry trunk, to which Shira was very grateful. The silver sabre raced out of the cave, searching for Diego.
Now that Mikayla's sobs had finally subsided to small sniffs, Diego released her and got up to leave. Mikayla was about to head back to the herd, ready to forget all about Gutt's stupid plan, until she saw a familiar hummingbird circling in the sky. Sighing, she cleared her throat to talk, but only after shooting the bird a death glare.
"Uhm, Diego?"
"Yeah?" he asked, looking over his shoulder, worried in case she might start crying again.
"I was just wondering, about the cubs thing..."
Diego groaned, face-palmed, and pounced at Mikayla, pinning her against a tree, his face inches from hers. "Mikayla, you know I don't love you. You know I don't want to have cubs with you."
Unknown to Diego, Shira had emerged from the bushes behind him and heard part of what he was saying, but only the 'want to have cubs with you part'. He's probably just telling her he doesn't want to... right?
"Mikayla, you know perfectly well after all these months that I truly love-" but Diego never got to finish his sentence, as Shira interrupted him, fury boiling over at what she thought she was seeing.
"Diego!" she roared "How could you?"
"N-no, Shira, it isn't what it looks like!" exclaimed Diego, but Shira didn't believe him for one second.
"Right, of course it isn't!" she said, her voice thick with sarcasm and deep betrayal "Of course you weren't halfway through telling her how much you love her!"
"Shira, listen to me, I was going to say I love you!"
"Yeah, to Mikayla!" snapped Shira, struggling to keep her tears inside, and not getting the fact that the 'you' was her "I knew it! I knew you moved on and forgot all about me! I knew it the moment I saw you two kissing the other day!" (again, back in Chap 9, in case you forgot)
"Please, please..." Diego's own eyes brimmed with tears "C-C'mon, K-Kitty I-"
"Don't call me Kitty," hissed Shira, but this time she sounded like she really meant it "Ever."
"Okay, okay, I'll never call you Kitty again!" promised Diego "But I'm still gonna think of you as my one and only Kitty, because you are!"
"No. I am not," Shira told him firmly "I'm not your Kitty, I'm not your sweetie, I'm not your anything, because I'm not YOURS, Diego! Not anymore. Not after this."
The poor male tiger had no words. Unknowingly, Shira had just shattered his heart and scattered the pieces over the entire world. He watched her turn and walk away, knowing she may never come back to him.
"S-Shira..." he whispered, a single tear rolling down his cheek "I need you..."
Shira raced through the forest, tears streaming from her azure eyes. Suddenly, she slammed into a blurry purple shape.
"Wha the- Sheila! Wha' in the world d'ya think you're doin'? Runnin' round like tha'?" demanded Raz, who would've folded her arms had she not been holding Gupta "Ya migh' get 'urt! An' Diego'll freak if 'e finds out!"
At the mere mention of his name, Shira collapsed in loud sobs, unable to contain the awful sounds one makes when crying anymore. Slowly, Raz sat beside her sabre sister, setting Gupta down so that he could pet the tearful tiger too, before wrapping her arms firmly around the poor girl, letting her get out all her tears.
"Vhat is the matter, Shira?" asked Gupta softly, stroking the sabre's head. "Please vill you tell us?"
"I-I-I..." unable to speak from her tears, Shira buried her head in Raz's fur.
"C'mon Sheila, try an' tell us," Raz encouraged her, gently pulling away from the sabre to look into her glossy eyes.
"D-Diego and M-Mikayla..." she managed, but her siblings knew what she meant.
"Do you vant to go somevhere else for a vhile? Away from the herd?"
Shira nodded, so Raz released the sabre and set her down beside Gupta.
"Righ', Ah'll go get the cubs an' the others. Gupta, stay here with lil' Sheila," ordered Raz, and Gupta nodded, holding Shira's paw comfortingly. Quickly, Raz hopped back to the herd's cave.
Manny looked up as he saw Raz hop into the cave. Wordlessly, she lifted Kendall from Manny's trunk, and Ranger from his spot on the rock beside Crash and Eddie, and slotted them both into her pouch. She snatched Lightning from Peaches, Hope from the wolf cubs, and Jade from Buck and Ellie, nefore slipping the three into her pouch also. Taz and Louis were both alert, and were holding Tina and Casper close. Raz had almost no trouble grabbing Casper from Louis, but Taz didn't want to let go of Tina until she knew what was going on.
"C'mon Taz, Ah don't 'ave time ta explain!" sighed Raz, exasperated.
"At least tell me why we need to move the cubs," said Taz firmly. Raz face-palmed.
"Coz they need ta be with their Mum more than their Dad!"
Taz looked confused, but agreed to let Raz take Tina after a lot of persuassion. Raz clicked her fingers.
"Silas, Flynn, Boris," she said, but it was more of an order. The three pirates appeared at her side, and they casually walked out of the cave. The rest of the herd tried to get the attention of the pirates, but Raz made sure they all ignored them. As they were leaving the clearing, Diego ran in frantically, Mikayla nowhere to be seen.
"Guys, have you seen Shira?!" he panted, eyes wide with hope. Raz just blanked him, so the others did too. Diego grew even more frantic. "C'mon, there was a big misunderstanding and-"
"Shuddup already!" interrupted Raz "Ya made our lil' sista cry, we've got nothin' ta say ta ya."
And with that, the pirates hurried into the bushes, Diego too shocked to follow.
Two hours later
Shira lay in a random cave, surrounded by her pirate siblings and young cubs. All but Kendall were asleep again, but the small cub had a concerned look in his emerald eyes. Shira sighed.
"You're a very smart little guy, aren't ya?" she ruffled her eldest son's fur. Kendall continued with a typical cub's small moans and gentle mews, until he managed to mumble something out.
"D-Dada..." Kendall looked up at his mother's shocked expression. The rest of the pirates were just as awestruck, unable to grasp that the cub had spoke. "Daddy!" repeated Kendall, with more confidence.
While the pirates were having miniature celebration, and Flynn and Silas were trying to coax more cubs into speaking for the first time, Shira sighed and pulled Kendall close to her.
"I know, Kendall... I want him too..." she sighed into his tawny fur.
Man, I just depressed myself writing this chapter. ^_^ Mikayla has a lot to answer for! Just wait till I- EEP! *ducks as someone throws a vase* I'm sorry!
Izzy: *wiping away tears* Dude, why break 'em up?
Me: They have to for plot reasons! And why do you care, you haven't even met them yet!
Izzy&Taz: *sniffles*
Me: Oh c'mon, you don't have to wait that long for them to make up!
Taz: Wait, so they get back together?
Me: Well duh! You know I'm too big of a Dira fan to split them up forever! Please review, if you don't hate me too much for this...