Okay, have you guys forgiven me now? I sure hope so... anyway, enjoy this new chapter. BTW, just got a Facebook page, please like! If you have Facebook of course, and anyway, the profile image is the same as my avatar on here, and the name hasn't changed either. :)
Taz: Me, Dex and Bronson all belong to scoobs5601, but the other two were too lazy to show up. *shrugs*
Rebecca: I belong to Blumacaw13!
Oh and I don't know if any of you guys know about BBC Radio 2's 500 words competition where you have to write a short story in 500 words (hence the title) but my story got through to the next stage! :D Thanks to Tiny Tina, who I human-ised as the main character, lol.
Tina: *smiles cutely*
Me: Anyway, I'll quit droning on about my life and let you guys enjoy the story :)
Mikayla marched into the cave, eyes narrowed, ears flat against her head. She knew Hollie had snitched on her, so she decided she wouldn't try keeping any secrets, she had none.
Gutt looked up as she entered. "Mikayla."
"Gutt," she replied in the same monotone voice.
"Didn't expect to see you back around here again."
She stiffened. "Yeah well, I felt I owed it to Kate and Izzy to resign from your wackjob crew in person."
This caught their attention, which basically meant every head in the cave snapped up instantly. Kate's eyes grew wide and filled with tears, while Izzy's jaw... let's just say that if it was actually possible for a jaw to hit the ground, Izzy's would've. Kenzie's mouth formed an '0', as Alex tried to contain her shock and surprise so that the sabre wouldn't attack her. Lenny and Zeke seemed astonished, but Oscar just seemed... affected, that was the best way Mikayla could discribe it. Hollie was putting on a smug face, but her eyes showed shock and a twinge of regret, where as Lauren and Rebecca both shared the same 'did that just happen?' look. Dex took a sharp intake of breath, and Bronson copied him a moment later when he figured out what was happening.
As all this was happening, Gutt and Soto seemed indifferent, cold and careless. Exactly what they are..., thought Mikayla. Gutt gestured to the entrance, signalling for her to leave. Leave and never return. As Mikayla was about to go, a quiet sound caught her attention.
"Just close your eyes..."
Mikayla noticed Izzy holding Kate close, singing into the cub's ear, but to the rest of the cave it sounded nearly silent.
"The sun is going down.
You'll be alright,
No-one can hurt you now.
Come morning light,
You and I will be
Safe and Sound..."
One thing was for sure; Mikayla's eyes certainly weren't without tears. But she blinked them back firmly, she didn't want her final moment in the ape's presence to be one in which she cried. Silently, she turned and walked calmly out of the cave, not wanting to say goodbye to anybody, because goodbye can forever. Seemingly embedded into her brain, Izzy's soft singing rotated around and around inside Mikayla's head, the lyrics stuck, despite the fact it was only a somewhat short chorus, they just kept repeating again and again.
Mikayla was just murmuring the song under her breath, when more voices caught her attention. For some reason, she was drawn to the voices, curiousity getting the better of her.
Before long, but not before she'd hit her head on several tree branches, Mikayla came across a large cave. To her surprise, the pirates sat in a circle around a burning fire, Shira lying with her cubs against her stomach, yet no Diego in sight. Mikayla sighed, figuring out that they must still be fighting. She'd hoped Diego would catch Shira before she got back to the herd, or the pirates, as it seemed, and that he'd be able to explain everything to her, but obviously, he hadn't.
Now, Mikayla wasn't too intelligent, but even she was smart enough not to walk out into the pirates' new location when Shira, and most likely the rest of the crew, was furious at her, and would probably take their best shot at impaling her before she got the chance to say her three words to Shira: I'm so sorry. So the regretful orange sabre turned and walked away, scratching some bark off a tree every few metres to make sure she could lead Diego back there to apologise to Shira. She sighed again, and began muttering Izzy's little song again.
Shira looked up from the flames, where she had just made out Diego's face, to her annoyance., and met her sister's golden eyes.
"Did you just hear something?" she asked, not realising she was cutting off Squint, whom she hadn't been listening to. Raz shook her head.
"No," the kangaroo shrugged "Ah think ya migh jus' be hearin' things, Sheila."
Sighing again, Shira curled up around her seven cubs, focusing on their cute little faces to distract herself from both what she thought she had heard, and from Diego, who she couldn't get out of her head. Gupta scratched the sabre between the ears, making her purr, despite her bad mood and sudden stinging headache.
Even Squint smirked at that. "Ya really haven't changed have you?" he chuckled from across the fire.
"Shut up..." she mumbled, looking down at Hope, who was batting at Kendall's face, jealous that he could talk now and was getting a lot of attention. Gently, she pried the little blonde cub away from her slightly older brother, licking her cheek to calm her down, and show her that she was as important as him. The pirates watched the adorable scene, pleased to see their baby sister so happy.
All was silent for a moment, each pirate absorbed deep into his or her own thoughts. Shira studied Kendall's face intensely, trying to find an aspect of it that didn't remind her of her mate, and failing.
"Y'know," she sighed "I wonder if I did the right thing earlier today. When I saw them together... maybe I overreacted. Maybe he was telling the truth, that it wasn't what it looked like. Maybe-"
"Sheila, from wha ya told us 'e was all over 'er," interrupted Raz "Now, maybe i' was jus' somethin tha looked bad an' wasn't, but we have no way ta know without confrontin' em."
Shira sighed again. "I know that, I just wanna know!"
"Ve all do, sis, ve all do..." agreed Gupta, ruffling her fur playfully.
"If only there was a way that we could find out without directly confronting ze sabres in question..." mused Silas, with murmurs of agreement from the others. They fell into silence again, trying to think of an idea, a lead, something that could help them.
"You know what I think I'm gonna miss most?" Shira didn't wait for an answer, she just continued "The rest of the herd. Ellie. Manny. Sid. Buck. Crash. Eddie. Peaches. Louis. Meghan, even though I don't know her too well. And even Granny. They're a second family to me guys, and I... I'm just gonna miss them so much."
"Ah know ya will, Sheila. Heck, even Ah will, an' we were only there a few days," interjected Raz. Shira sighed a third time and carried on.
"And Diego... well, I can't explain it. I don't know myself. I don't know what I'm feeling... I love and miss him... but if he and Mikayla really were... I wouldn't be able to forgive him, at least, I don't think so... I'm just so confused."
"Life can be pretty dang confusin', Shira..." Raz stared into the flames "Tha's jus' somethin' everyone has ta get used ta."
"Life can be a rose... hides her thorns beneath pretty petals..." Squint said, sounding distant, but wise.
"Very true, very true..." agreed Boris.
"Ooh, Squint sounded all wisdom-y!" commented Flynn, causing Shira to smile.
"Yeah, who told you that?" she asked, curiously.
"No-one!" Squint frowned, folding his arms "I do have thoughts! I'm not all about slicing and dicing!"
"But mostly you are?" questioned Shira innocently. Squint shrugged.
"Well, yeah, but still."
They laughed together at that, laughing as one big family, which they were, of course. After a while, Boris spoke up for once.
"So Shira, why did you get so... drawn, to the herd, I mean?"
Shira shrugged. "I don't know really... it's just... I guess I really liked how they were all a big family, like us, only less violent and with more adult figures. But, I was really intrigued when we first found them on the ice floe, I mean, two sloths, a mammoth and a sabre? I was right; they were like the start of a bad joke..." she chuckled at the memory "I just don't know why, but when I saw Gutt about to hurt Peach, I just felt compelled to stop him, to save her..."
The whole group shuddered as they relived that horrible memory...
Flashback
Gutt lunged at the teenage mammoth, pulling her away from her mother. Reluctantly following their orders, Raz and Squint tied up Ellie, effectively restraining her against the chunk of ice. Shira watched helplessly, her body aching from the wounds Gutt had previously inflicted on her.
"Stay away from me!" Peaches' voice snapped Shira from her thoughts "Let me go!"
"Not gonna happen," said Gutt firmly, gripping her by the tusks.
"What did we ever do to you?" demanded Ellie. Gutt grinned maliciously.
"You? Oh, you haven't done a thing. You're merely paying the price of your husband's actions," he explained.
"My dad didn't do anything to you!" insisted Peaches "You're just a cruel, power-hungry tyrant, CHIMP!"
Everyone was taken aback by Peaches' words. The animals were surprised at how the normally calm, collected and cool Peaches had flown off the handle like that, and the pirates were shocked because nobody ever stood up to Gutt.
"Takes after her father..." muttered Shira under her breath, but no-one heard, except Gutt.
"Ah, so you must like her, don't you Miss Shira? Considering how much you like the small portion of her family we've already met!"
"When did I say I liked them?" asked Shira skeptically, but she did, and she knew it. The entire crew knew it.
"Oh, I don't know..." Gutt snarled at her "Maybe when you let them steal my ship!"
Shira winced; she knew he was right. She had let them go, and although she didn't regret it, she would've preferred if he hadn't announced that to all the other animals, as it made her look weak.
."Now," Gutt turned away from his silent crew member and back to Peaches "Time for a little taste of revenge. A little something to teach you not to sass a pirate captain!"
He raised a large fishbone sword, holding it over Peaches, tilting her head back so that her throat was completely vulnerable. Seeing where this was going, Shira prepared herself for a run-up. Grinning, Gutt brought the sword down hard, aiming for the mammoth's neck. Shira leapt in front of the sword, blocking Peaches and earning a sword in her back, which slashed down to her hind leg. Everybody was shell-shocked at how indifferent Gutt was to see blood pooling on the deck underneath a member of his crew.
The pirates could feel their hearts aching, they hated seeing their youngest sister in pain.
End Flashback
Shivering at the memory, Raz instinctively pulled Shira closer. The sabre didn't argue, she snuggled into the kangaroo gratefully, the memory still brought a chill down her spine.
"Maybe that's vhy you and Peaches are so close," suggested Gupta "Because even vhen you vere enemies you risked your life and took a hit for her."
"Maybe..." sighed Shira "I just... Peaches is so sweet. So is Louis, he's not as wimpy as everyone thinks."
Squint nodded. "He seemed pretty confident when he stood up to Gutt."
"So did Taz," added Silas "Ze little possum surprised me with her fighting skills."
"Yeah..." sighed Shira, watching Tina cuddle up against Casper "You know what else I liked about them? That despite the fact Diego could easily kill and eat any of them, but they know he wouldn't."
"Well Sheila, we know you wouldn't eat us, so wha's the diff'rence?" asked Raz.
"Huh... I guess I never thought about it like that," admitted Shira. "We're a big, crazy family too!"
"Yeah, we ain't no ordinary family either!" Squint grinned, high-fiving Gupta. Shira smiled and started to sing:
"We are, we are, not your ordinary fam-mily, but we can all agree that,"
Raz, Squint and Gupta joined in:
"We are, we are,"
"Close as close can be!" contributed the rest of the crew. Shira giggled.
"So it don't matter what it looks like, we look perfect to me! We got every kind of love, I feel so lucky indeed!"
Raz gripped Shira's paw. "They can keep on talkin', it don't matter to me! Coz we are, we are,"
"Family!" they all smirked at each-other. Then they all chipped in for the verse.
Shira & Gupta: "So what, we don't look,"
Squint: "We don't act,"
Silas & Flynn: "We don't walk,"
Raz & Boris: "We don't talk,"
Everyone: "Like they do!"
Gupta, Squint, Raz & Shira: "So what, if we hang, just a-hangin', no shame, we all do what we want to!"
Boris & Flynn: "Coz we come from everywhere,"
Silas & Squint: "Searchin' for ones who care!"
Raz & Gupta: "Somehow we found it here,"
Shira: "We found us a home!"
Everyone: "We are, we are, family!"
They all started laughing, spirits lifted immediately. The cubs had huddled together against their mother's stomach, but they weren't sleepy, they were excited because of all the singing. Shira smiled at the pirates, then rubbed her eye tiredly.
"Man, I'm tired," she yawned "Alright, I'm heading in for the night. Anyone feel like helping me with the cubs?"
Raz nodded, picking up six of the seven cubs, Shira taking Kendall in her mouth. She lay down in the back of the cave, and Raz placed the cubs beside her. Shira thanked her marsupial sister, before curling around her children protectively. Moments later, Raz carried Gupta in, as it would still be about five or six weeks before his ankle had healed.
"Night girls..." murmured Gupta, drifting off to sleep as Raz propped up his leg. Shira rolled her eyes, before letting them slide shut. Raz chuckled at the sabretooth, before heading out and returning to the rest of the crew.
Ugh, considering the wait I made you guys endure, you really oughtta have a longer chapter. Oh well, better than none, right? Anyway, I hope none of you mind how I had the pirates singing 'We Are' too, if you do, then tell me, and I won't do it again. BTW, got a half-day in school today, so I'm gonna start the next chapter ASAP :) Thanks for reading and please review! :D