After the little - ahem, incident - by the River that afternoon, Peaches, Louis and I said our farewells to the other teens before heading back the way we had come that morning. The forest was quiet and sincere, and the only sounds disturbing the silence were the twittering of birds and ourselves. Our voices cast an echo up into the trees that arched over us, casting warm, flickering shadows. Thankfully, with some persuasion, Peaches stayed out of their branches and on the solid ground this time, much to my relief!

"Taz, can I ask you something?" she said, as we strolled past a fallen log. The wood itself was so curving and twisting, it looked like a dead basilisk.

I nodded, hopping onto the log and attempting to walk across it, pigeon-toed, arms spread, as if on a tightrope. Peaches continued -

"How come you're a possum, but you don't like hanging from trees?"

Ah.

I sighed, hopping off and kicking aside a miniature pebble. This kind of conversation was bound to crop up at some point, just like the whole issue of my 'not sleeping upside down', so I knew I'd have to grit my teeth get used to it, until everyone knew of my strange non-following of instinct. "I do, I just -" I struggled to think of a reply that would suffice - "I don't like heights, okay?"

Her expression was questioning, so I explained further,

"For you, it's not that far to the ground from a branch, because you're really tall, but the floor feels like a million miles away when you're my size. My friend once fell from, like, ten feet; she nearly broke her leg!"

I guess that was kind of true - my friend Louisa jumped off the roof of her conservatory and twisted her ankle. I remember it being all swollen and purple-looking, not exactly the most pleasant thing to look at. That twisted ankle could probably be compared to the way I was twisting the truth right now.

Peaches winced. "Ouch, that sounds painful."

"Ya think?" I replied, forcing an untinentional smirk that was creeping up on me to retreat. Instead I cleared my throat as Peaches asked me yet another question,

"But what about at the River? You didn't have a problem with heights then."

"Yeah, but that was different," I shrugged. Which it was, in a way. "I had water beneath me then, so I could conclude I'd be okay. I can judge stuff like that."

She grinned and rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay, reason enough."

I shook my fringe out of my eyes for the fourth or fifth time that day. Since it had been doused in water, it had dried and gone all fluffy. Some of you must know what I mean, when you've dried your hair and it goes all fine and static and - well, generally weird. Consider that becoming about ten times worse. Complete -and utter - nightmare. I felt like I was wearing a clown wig or something absurd.

The fact that Crash and Eddie decided to rub it in didn't exactly help, either. When we grew close to the herd's dwelling and sighted Ellie's brothers near the bushes, they broke into peels of laughter at the sight of my now 'poofy' (Gosh, Manny, I know how you feel now!) hair.

I scowled. "Hey, if you're going to make jokes at my fur, go on ahead, but I think you're seriously underestimating a female opossum's fighting skills."

They were perhaps two of the few people in this new world that irked me big time. I mean, being the same species, you'd think we'd get along, but, oh, no, not with Crash and Eddie, because it just doesn't work like that. They'll do whatever they can to get on people's last nerve. It's as if someone furry-fied then cloned that really annoying boy who sits in the corner during Maths class and winds everybody up. Yeah, that guy. Not particularly great, being stuck with that day after day after day, right?

The twins chose to ignore my comment, and strolled away, still howling. I scowled.

"Are they always so -"

"Annoying? Obnoxious?" Louis guessed what I was about to say, "Yeah, they are."

"Okay," I smirked again, giving in to my facial expressions, "I was gonna say something a that was a little ruder, but hey, that works too!"

They both chuckled as the three of us entered the clearing together.

It was late afternoon by now, and so the orange sun cast syrup-coloured light over all the wildlife around us. There were a few shrieks and yells of young animals playing in the distance, but other than that, the place was fairly quiet.

Manny, Diego and Sid must have gone out somewhere, because Shira was sat on her own in the cave, Ellie outside with her brothers, who had obviously retreated to her after they insulted me. I directed a purposeful glare at the twins as I passed, wanting them to get the message. They cowered mockingly whilst Ellie wasn't looking, but as I was about to give them a rather rude gesture, she turned, so I simply went with a hand movement that we both took to mean 'I'm watching you.'

I crept into the cave, attempting not to disturb the female sabre who was evidently resting her eyes, but her head rose up as Peaches greeted her.

"Hey, Aunt Shira."

"Hey, Peach. Hi Louis. And... Tamsin, is it?"

"Tasmin," I corrected her, "Long for Taz, and... well, not really short for anything."

Shira rolled her eyes, but lifted her head off her legs so her paws weren't obstructing her vision.

"Where've you guys been, then? Down at the River?" she asked, looking at our fur, which was still mildly damp.

Peaches nodded. "Yeah, we kinda..."

"Well, Taz decided to..." added Louis.

"Jump in the lake from the cliff, like a boss!" I finished.

Shira grinned. "Lucky you, being cold and wet for the rest of the afternoon."

Now it was my turn to eyeroll at her.

"Yeah, whatever."

Her earrings glinted in the setting sun, and an epiphany washed over me: How had she gotten those, anyway?

"Hey, uh, Shira? Where'd you get those earrings? I really like them."

Peaches stared outside, obviously not listening - she'd probably heard this story a million times before.

"Oh, these. I got 'em pierced when I joined the crew about a decade ago. Squint did 'em, but it hurt like heck!"

"I can imagine! I've always been too much of a wuss to get mine pierced." I admitted.

My mum often over-exaggerated about ear piercings; saying that I could get blood poisoning and die (*gulp!*) if they were pierced unprofessionally or unhygenically. Louisa, however, had hers done in the September term, and she had been nagging me ever since to get earrings as well. I hadn't given in to the peer pressure just yet, but I could tell my inner shell was slowly caving.

"Couldn't you numb it with, say, Lotus berries or something?" asked Louis. Shira shook her head.

"We didn't have any on board. Besides, I probably would have looked like a coward if I'd asked for them to reduce the pain."

I shuddered. "Lovely." I definitely wasn't going to arrange to introduce my ears to a piercing gun any time soon, that was for sure.

Yeah, short chapter, I know :( if anyone has good ideas for the next few chapters, then TELL ME, 'cause plot bunnies may be rewarded with a dedication story! ^_^

Taz: Ugh, Crash and Eddie are so ANNOYING!

Me: That they are, Taz, that they are. Plus, they broke my light shade.

Crash: What?! It wasn't OUR fault it looked like a climbing frame! A sparkly blue one, but still!

Me: *sigh*

SPOOOOIIIILLLEEEEEERRRRRRR! (don't read unless you must!)

I'm kind of freaking Taz out at the moment due to the fact that I'm designing her children.

Taz: Please, someone, help! I'M NOT READY TO BE A MOTHER! *despairs*

Me: Don't worry Taz, they'll only be introduced in the sequel to IARN! *waggles eyebrows*

Welp, dat's all for now, folks! Oh, and I will worship you forever if you review :D

Taz: If you don't, I'll set my future kids on you!

Starr, Tyson and Emmeline: *grins menacingly*