As the water withdrew into the newly-formed ravine, Akira's exhaustion caught up with her. She laid against the cool, wet stone, the silver-coated cub shivering by her side as she panted heavily. "Are you okay?" The small voice whispered, nervous as big, blue eyes glanced around. With no water to bury the evidence or keep it going, there were a few corpses around them, many more further out where the water had been the deepest, keeping the boat afloat. Some were the victims of the depths themselves while others were victims of what lurked beneath it.
"I'll be okay." Akira breathed, raising her head as she positioned her body in a more comfortable position. "I'm quite surprised you made it." She glanced up, unable to help a small smile at the sight of the panther that had helped her along her way when she'd believed herself lost.
"You and me both." The sabress groaned and the feline nudged her onto her paws but gave a sigh of relief as he allowed her to lean on him. "Didn't think you'd come back." Akira picked the cub up by his scruff, the young sabre crying out in brief alarm before he calmed.
The nigrae was quiet as they moved along to where the boat had halted, mammals dismounting the overgrown sliver of bark to slid ground. Akira was unbothered by his silence and lack of answers for as prickly and closed off as the panther could be at times, he wasn't a bad mammal. It was only solidified in her mind for he had known her mother and the two had been in love—the latter the sabress wondered about often enough. Rules of her pack weren't particularly strict about what predators joined and who had a relationship with who and so her mother's abrupt end with the panther and sudden marriage to her father spiked her curiosity. Not that she was complaining about her mother's final decision—Akira quite enjoyed life despite her most recent carelessness with it.
"Well, considering I saved your life, I was curious to see what you had so negligently done with it." The panther said, stepping over a mangled body with distaste.
"Well, I was born with nine lives," Akira said, frowning at it as well. The land, partially mud and rock, was littered with injured, dying and dead animals. It was a bit of a gruesome scene and the sabress was glad she had thoughtfully picked the cub up at an angle that obscured his vision of lay ahead of them. The carnage was the last thing the little one needed to be imprinted in his mind.
The trio approached the boat, the sabress looking for signs of her family or her herd but found none. It gave her a bit of hope for they certainly weren't a part of the unfortunate population of mammals and could only mean they were alive—or at least some were. And some were much better than none. No sabres descended from the boat but there were other predators such as wolves, cave bears and cave lions among the herbivorous mammals, passive for the moment as they recovered from the aftermath of the brief but destructive disaster.
"None of the mammals aboard the ship were missing a cub or knew a sabre pack that had passed through." Akira frowned at the nigrae's words, an unwelcome feeling settling in her chest. She set the cub down at the beginning of the conversation, encouraging him to wonder a bit in the direction the water had yet to engulf, the area free of corpses and held a few idling, recovering mammals.
"Are you saying he was abandoned?"
The panther nodded. "Possible they left him a day or two ago and he wandered here, following the migration line."
"My m-mummy and daddy said everything would be okay before they left." Both adult predators turned to look at the small voice, Akira's expression morphing into one of shock while the unnamed panther arched a slim brow.
"Left? Left where?" The sabress demanded. It was one thing for one to lose their parents in the migration but to be purposefully stranded? It was an unspeakable crime for a mammal with parental responsibility.
"T-they said goodnight and said that everything would be okay when I woke up. Daddy was really sick but he promised they would come back for me. They p-promised." Akira wasn't sure whether she had the right to be angry at sabres who were absolute strangers in her mind because she didn't know the reason nor the predators in question.
"Well, they're not coming back, cub."
Akira heaved a bit of a frustrated sigh at the panther's rather harsh words, as truthful as they were. The cub was young, barely able to be on his own, a year or two old at most. By then, a sabre cub didn't depend heavily on their mother but they were still nowhere near at the capacity to survive in the real world on their own.
"What's your name, sweetheart?" Akira nuzzled the sniffling cub, her actions meant to soothe and reassure.
"P-Percy."
"Akira," She said softly. Her green eyes warmed as Percy gave a watery smile before looking at the onyx feline expectantly with big, blue eyes. The panther grimaced and would have done exactly the opposite asked of him if not for the fierce glare aimed in his direction by a face that resembled one of his past. The expression sparked a reluctant memory as well. "Solus," The nigrae offered gruffly.
The sabress' glare softened with her satisfaction but before their interaction could continue, their attention was quickly averted by small tremors in the ground. Percy scrambled fearfully between Akira's legs, curling up underneath her as his small form shook. The sabress placed a reassuring paw on the back of the cub, her eyes gleaming with pleasant surprise as she laid eyes on the creatures that emerged from the horizon. Mammoths.
Evidently so, as ridiculous as it seemed now, Ellie and Manny weren't the last ones. And if they were around to see the woolly mammals that had drawn attention from all around, they'd be with them.
Before Akira could give the decision to venture forward much thought, she saw Solus retreating from the corner of her eye. Akira frowned, glancing back at the panther. "No goodbye?" The feline paused but didn't turn back. The sabress continued. "You don't have to leave, you know. You could stay with us. I've been alone for a good chunk of my journey and no one deserves to feel how I felt. And that was days—I can't imagine years."
Solus's lithe body shook with a sigh. "It's a nice offer, kid, but you only serve to remind me of the mistakes I've made in life," he spared her a glance over his shoulder, "and the mistakes I need to right."
Akira's pained eyes gleamed with something warm as a smile graced her face. As quickly as it was there, however, it fell. "You're. . . you're going to find mom?"
Solus nodded. He had yet to continue on, his silent offer as obvious as ever in the sabress' eyes. Akira's expression twisted, conflicted as she looked back to the herd of mammoths, watching as they were moving on now. Certain as she ever could be, she knew Manny and Ellie were among the herd. Diego and Sid could be close by, Crash and Eddie as well. Friends she had made along the way, the mammals she'd willingly sacrificed her life for. And they were right here while her parents. . . her pack was an absolute mystery to her.
"Maybe we'll run into each other again." Akira settled her decision in her mind as well as aloud for the waiting panther. He gave a short nod, amber eyes filled with understanding as he turned away. "Thank you, Solus."
When he glanced back one last time, she could've sworn she saw the stoic feline crack a small smile. Seconds later, he was nothing but a speck as he bounded off towards the mountains Akira had gradually drifted from in the last week or so.
Akira picked up a semi-calm Percy and approached the retreating herd and mammoths, her eyes smiling when she spotted Sid and Diego watching the mammoths of their herd leave with their kind. As saddened as she was to see Manny and Ellie gone, the possums as well, some were better than none. Quietly depositing Percy by her feet, she nudged the sniffling sloth with a paw. "You okay, Sid?" Akira's grin graced her face when the crying sloth halted mid-blubbering, shouting in alarm.
He whirled around before his face broke out into a wide grin. "Akira!"
Her muscles ached upon the embrace Sid tackled her in but the sabress was too happy to deal with the discomfort. Her friends were alive and well. Her sacrifices had meant something. "Aw, did you miss me, Sid?" She inquired cheekily. As emotional as she expected their reunion to be considering the note they left off on, Akira was a bit surprised to see, or really feel, that the sloth was crying once again. "Sid?"
The sloth reared back, tear-streaked face paired with a happy grin. "Really bad sense of deja vu, that's all."
Diego chuckled behind him, joining Sid as he looked at the sabress with ill-concealed relief. "How did you survive the fall?"
Akira was a bit tempted to mention Solus but ultimately figured the panther would rather his life of solitude. Plus, it wasn't as if Akira really envisioned herself crossing paths with him again. The chances of the panther lingering with her pack, assuming they were alive and either feline found them, were slim. "Nine lives, baby."
Diego grinned at that, a sparkle in his brilliant eyes. "So you, uh, sticking around?"
At that, the sabress shrugged, "Got myself attached, didn't I?" Akira gestured with her head to Sid whose grin grew impossibly wider. Curious but cautious, Percy watched closely from underneath the sabress.
"Better be or else we'd have taken you with us by force." The sabres and the sloth looked back with smiles to see Manny and Ellie walking towards them, Crash and Eddie practically bouncing with excitement. "Hey, Tiger." The mammoth grinned, as happy as they all were to have the sabress back. Her presence was a suffocating weight taken of all the shoulders.
Akira smiled. Sarcastic Manny was good but Happy Manny was refreshing. "Akira!" The sabress laughed as the possums threw themselves at her, each wearing grins so wide they could've split their faces in two. "Handfuls you two are but, I missed you." She had lowered her head to their height and they stretched their arms as wide as they could, embracing her forelegs with all their might. Fond, she nuzzled them both, looking up with a smile as she felt a soft trunk caress her head. Ellie smiled blindingly back down at her. "I never thanked you for what you did for my brothers. Thank you so much."
Akira's smile softened, "You don't have to thank me, Ellie."
The mammoth playfully rolled her eyes. "You say that but I'm still going to."
The sabress and shemmoth exchanged tender glances. "So who's your friend?" Eddie questioned and the herd's attention shifted to the cub hiding underneath the sabress, azure eyes wide at the prospect of so many mammals, two full-grown mammoths nonetheless.
Percy whimpered at the eyes suddenly on him. "It's okay, hun." She assured the cub before glancing back at her herd. "He was abandoned by his parents. I can't—well, I don't want to leave him. He's got nowhere to go."
"Of course." Ellie smiled, reaching out her trunk to the cub, inviting. "Hey, little guy." Percy looked up at Akira with uncertainty and at the silent question, she smiled, nodding softly. He warily padded forward within trunk distance of Ellie. The shemmoth rubbed his head gently, getting the spot between his ears. Both women smiled affectionately as Percy purred, content. "Cute little guy he is."
And with that, they started their journey outside of the glacier walls because anything inside had surely been destroyed. There was nowhere to go but forward. Percy walked with Ellie for some time before he and his tiny legs fell in step with Sid who told him a surprisingly detailed story of how he, Manny and Diego saved a human baby.
Akira glanced at Diego who was matching her slow pace, the latter courtesy of her injuries and sore muscles. "He's joking, right?" The sabre grinned, shaking his head, "It was an adventure." She shook her head, blinking in wonder. Her herd was unusual—of course before the girls and possums had joined they'd been on a memorable adventure. Akira smiled absently at that. Her herd.
Latin to English Translation:
nigrae - Nigrum Pantherae - Black Panther
Solus - Alone