Landslides - Continental Drift
Akira was rather cozily tucked away inside her cave when she heard the soft padding of paws approaching. A small smile tugged at her lips and moments later, a familiar scent engulfed her as a snout nuzzled her in greeting. She hummed as she returned the tender gesture. "I woke up and you were gone. Patrol?"
"Yeah. It was Percy's day but couldn't find him anywhere." Diego huffed as he settled beside the sabress laying stretched out on her side. Akira was grinning, green eyes gleaming. "He was hiding around the corner when I woke up. He was just leaving when I caught him." The Southern sabre groaned for he'd guessed Percy had intentionally skipped out on his task. "Of course, he did." The cub had gotten into the habit of sneaking out every now and then to tiptoe around with Peaches and their mutual friend, Louis. Akira didn't mind, glad the sabre was getting more involved with the mammals around. He had the tendency to keep to the herd, Akira especially. His own parents had disappointed him once and abandoned him and Percy, as independent as he tried to be at times, was often her shadow. Though, when he wasn't hers, he was Peaches' and her his. The two were as close as siblings could get, even if the sabre was a year or two older than the calf.
Diego was only mildly annoyed with Percy's intended absences because there were days he'd rather lay with his mate and their cubs who were due any day. However, there were also times he'd rather be as far from the pregnant sabress because occasionally, he'd misstep and she would be more than ready to rip into his throat out. He now understood Manny's struggle all too well when Ellie had been pregnant with Peaches—the mammoth's overprotective nature as well. Rarely did Akira go anywhere without her mate but it amused her more often than not as she recalled a time the sabre questioned why Manny did then as Diego did now.
"Can we go for a walk to the valley?" Akira hummed inquiringly, raising her head to look at Diego. She felt a tinge of amusement as he stared worriedly at her. "You sure you're up for it? Cubs are due any day now." The sabress pushed herself up, stretching her body with a wide yawn. "Worse is it catches me out there in the valley but every mammal has been waiting so we'll have help. It'll be better than Ellie having Peaches in the Plates of Woe surrounded by prehistoric reptiles."
At her joke, the sabre cracked a smile as he stood as well. "Yeah."
Akira strolled along Diego's side through the rocky, mountainous terrain. It had been a little over twelve years since their latest adventure to the North Pole and since then, it had been rather uneventful, a relief to the mammals of the herd who valued the peace. The kids, Sid, Crash and Eddie were enough handfuls as it was on a regular day.
The herd had migrated throughout the years, their recent and most current home nearest to the ocean just four years ago. The village they had chosen was filled with rather friendly mammals and though the teens were a little rowdy, it was perfect. Peaches and Percy loved it the most and it had been good for the pair of sabres, stable enough that they decided it was time for them to give it a try for cubs.
It was on their third year, nearly two months after, that Akira noticed the difference and she'd nearly tackled her mate in excitement. Ellie had almost flattened Diego in her desire to congratulate Akira. Sid had been ecstatic, nearly tripping over himself in his enthusiasm and the possums had cheered at the prospect of new companions and kids to influence. Diego had been horrified at the idea whilst Akira indulged Crash and Eddie, listening to their various ideas. Peaches and Percy? They were both excited for new siblings and cousins but also relieved because, for them, it meant their respective parents would be too busy with the newcomers to notice too much to be as overprotective. Percy had his freedom, for now, his adoptive parents allowing him that until the cubs were born—little did the sabre know that he'd be almost as involved with them as the parents—but Manny held Peaches as close as he could. He feared for his little girl, especially when she'd gotten into her latest fascination with the 'delinquents' as Manny called them.
Akira understood his worry but was also more than aware that Peaches was sixteen. She also found it oddly domestic that delinquents were his biggest problem when mere hours old, Peaches had seen dinosaurs in their natural habitat and at four years old, she'd taken a trip to the North Pole just to prove a point. Manny himself had experienced a flash flood and fought hungry, carnivorous fish and dinosaurs—he'd even faced a human tribe and hostile sabre pack head on to return a lost baby. Akira did have a sneaking suspicion, however, that the mammoth would rather his daughter have the same adventures he did in his late youth than hang around with teenage mammoths who worried him more than Sid. That spoke volumes in and of itself.
"Auntie Kira!" Peaches' voice was laced with exasperation as she approached, the mammoth looking frustrated.
"What did Manny tell you not to do this time?" The young mammoth heaved a partially dramatic sigh, turning her head briefly to glare at her father's retreating back. "I want to go to the falls but dad says no. There are boys there and I can't hang out with them till he's dead plus three days. It's ridiculous!"
The sabress fought a chuckle, shaking her head lightly at Manny's paranoia. "He's just worried, Peaches, but I do agree he's going a little overboard. He's got good reason though. If it's Ethan you're trying to see, I get Manny's bursting a blood vessel over it. I don't like him very much either."
The pregnant sabress settled down, her limbs aching from the extra weight she had to carry along with her. The walk from the cave to the small valley had been rather long. Had Diego been around, he would've worried himself within an inch of his life about why she was sitting down so quickly and probably would have insisted she return home but the sabre had wandered off. She assumed he'd strayed when Peaches called her over and she wasn't all that worried about his whereabouts for he never went too far when they left their cave. "Kira, how could you not? He's hot."
The sabress snorted. "Maybe for a hormonal teenage girl but unfortunately, Peaches, I'm a thirty-four-year-old sabre, three months pregnant and mated for the last twelve years. I don't do rowdy, teenage mammoths. Don't dwell on my tastes though, love, you'll grow out of it soon enough." Peaches huffed before a part of the spoken sentence occurred to her, the mammoth doing a double-take. "You mated with Uncle Diego when you were eighteen? And dad won't let me even look at a boy at sixteen?!" The sabress gave the mammal a bewildered look before she laughed aloud. "No, no, hun, sabres age differently. We're basically full-grown adults at fifteen—if Percy wanted, he could've gone off and started his own pack ages ago but uh, his separation anxiety doesn't do him any favours. Still, even if you were a sabre, Manny would still be, well. . . Manny."
"Yeah, I just wish he'd let me go to the falls even if just for a little bit." Peaches frowned, sighing heavily. Akira cocked her head at the mammoth. "I won't tell if you—" The sabress cut herself off, suddenly aware of rather loud voices and the sound of something approaching and fast. "What is—" A log sled was tearing down the hill, piled with sloths, and it was coming right for her and Peaches. The sabress exclaimed, alarmed, alerting Peaches as well. The mammoth reacted in time to pull the pregnant sabre out of the way of danger, putting herself in line of it instead but the sled stopped inches before it could collide with Peaches.
Akira peered around the mammoth and watched as one by one, six individual sloths flew from the inside of the sled due to the lack of restraints and landed on a badly placed Manny, knocking him over. "Manny?"
"Dad!" As Peaches rushed to her dad, Ellie appeared, drawn by the commotion and Akira nudged the sled away. It had given her a horrible scare seeing it barreling down the hill as she and her unborn cubs stood in the way. If it would have been noticeable, she would've had a patch of gray fur from that moment alone.
"Get off. . . my face!" Manny peeled one of the sloths off his face and the sabress made a face at the sight of it. Of him. The sloth was more badly groomed than Sid and that said a lot. Akira refrained from gagging as the stench of the sloth floated over to her—it was certainly worse than Sid on a bad day though, the sloth had yet to have those as of late because of how sensitive her sense of smell had gotten. After the first time she'd broken down, caught between ripping the sloth apart and throwing up her stomach contents, he had taken special care in smelling like flowers—particularly lavender as they were plentiful just outside their home—whenever he came around her. Right now, Akira was more inclined to rip the sloth apart for violating her senses and suffer the guilt she'd feel later.
"That was fun. Now, who should I eat first?" Diego snarled, his anger and annoyance apparent by the way his fur stood on end, his lips pulled back over his fangs. There was a sloth discarded behind him, an elderly female, such evident by her scraggly coat, bulging eyes and the cane in her hand. The Southern sabre advanced upon the foul sloth Manny had ripped off his face and Akira had no intentions of stopping him, not even as the sloth cried out and the mammoths gave her a few wary glances. After all, she'd been put in danger, nearly killed, and Diego's instincts to protect were out of anyone's control but hers.
"Uncle Fungus!" Akira glanced in the direction she heard Sid's voice and frowned as the sloth Diego hovered over seemed familiar with the voice that called out as well. "Could that really be you?" Sid broke through the crowd, his eyes lighting up at the sight of the sloths. "Dad! Marshall!" Sid embraced the shortest of the bunch as well as the more patriarchal-looking sloth before his eyes flickered to his unfortunate Uncle Fungus. "Ah! Diego, wh—" He spared Akira a glance and the sabress was expressionless until the sloth widened his eyes into a pleading look, "Don't let him eat him. Uncle Fungus'll give him indigestion, Kira."
Akira wasn't exactly going to go through with Diego's desire to punish the sloths once Sid identified them as his family although she was slightly less inclined to comply with her pre-pregnancy morals knowing that the very same family had abandoned Sid twenty years ago. Still, as she settled down again, she beckoned Diego over. The sabre was responsive to her request, giving one last rumbling growl in the sloth's face before he turned and approached her, nuzzling her softly as he reached her. "I'm okay." She reassured softly.
"This pumpkin's ripe for picking!" Akira jumped, startled by the gentle nudge on her bulging stomach and looked down to see Sid's presumed grandmother poking her belly with her cane with a scrutinizing eye. Diego tensed beside her but Akira gave the old sloth a small smile, more amused than anything. "It is." The elderly sloth nodded, satisfied with that answer. "You better watch for them early contractions. You'll think they're kicks and next thing you know, you're in the middle of labour." The grandmother said as she hobbled away, wagging a claw back at Akira. The sabress cocked her head as she watched the sloth occupy herself with a sleeping beaver, poking the poor mammal into wakefulness.
"My whole familia." Sid sighed happily, embracing all the family members he could reach an arm around. As Akira spared them a glance, it was clear they were less than ecstatic to be with the sloth again.
"I never thought I'd see my little baby again. We've been searching everywhere for you." Sid's mom crooned in a falsely sweet voice, pinching his cheeks. She even looked genuine but the sabress could see through the act. No one accidentally abandoned their son for twenty years just to show up exactly where he was, claiming they had unknowingly left him behind. No one just forgot about Sid. Akira held back a scoff, knowing easily they wanted something but poor Sid was as susceptible as they came. "You have? I knew it, I knew it! Deep down, I knew I wasn't abandoned!"
The pregnant sabre frowned as she leaned into her mate. Diego saw as she did, humming knowingly into her fur as he briefly pressed his snout into the junction of her neck.
"That's incorrect. We totally abandoned you—" Marshall was hastily pushed away by the matriarch of the family, Sid somehow yet understandably clueless to his brother's words.
"But we always missed you. Right?" The latter was said by Sid's mother with forceful intent as she nudged her husband roughly. "Yeah, yeah, we just knew Sid would want to see his poor, dear Granny before her time is up."
And there it was. The favour they needed. Sid had been abandoned on purpose and his family had found him over two decades later to do the same thing with his grandmother. "I'll bury you all and dance on your graves." Although. . . for a rather poor, dear, old sloth, Granny did have a lot of fire. Akira disagreed with the reasons but in all honesty, she wouldn't so much mind the old sloth lingering around. "So frail."
"And she can't wait to spend time with you, Sid." Sid's mother insisted, his father nodding in agreement. "Oh, yeah, Granny? Granny?" Akira knew exactly where the sloth was, watching with gleaming green eyes as the elder held a shard of glass—where she had found the sabress wasn't sure—and used the slab to focus the sunlight on Marshall's head as the younger sloth tormented an anthill in the same way. She snickered as Granny cackled, Marshall crying out in pain as he registered the burning sensation in his fur.
"Granny!" Sid's father exclaimed, retrieving the elderly sloth from where she troubled her grandson.
"I never get to have any fun." Granny huffed as she doddered along.
"Why don't you show her your cave? Yeah, she could use a nap." Akira shared a glance with Diego and Ellie, the three each understanding that temporarily or permanently they had another mammal in their herd—this one certainly unplanned.
Sid was oblivious as expected as he took his grandmother's paw, leading her away. "Boy, there's so much to tell you. A lot has happened since the last time I saw you."
As they vanished from sight, the remaining sloths cheered as they wasted no time climbing into the log sled. "We got rid of the crazy bat! Let's go!" They were a few movements from propelling themselves forward when Manny intercepted their paths, eyes narrowed. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! You can't just leave. Sid will be crushed."
"Sorry, cookie. Things are breaking apart back home." Sid's father nodded in agreement. "So, we're headed inland. And Granny is just dead weight."
Akira growled quietly under her breath, swiping with barely-exposed claws at Uncle Fungus as he was nearest to her. He had yet to enter the sled, standing at the back for he was the strongest to push it forward. The odorous sloth yelped at the stinging swat, jumping out of paw distance as she threatened to repeat the motion. "See you." Uncle Fungus rushed to push the sled as Manny stepped out of the way, shocked. "Mush, mush! And warn the community. She tends to wander!" They were gone in a blur.
"Well, that explains a lot about Sid," Diego muttered, watching the log sled disappear with a scowl.
"Mom, Dad, do you have Granny's teeth? She can't find them." Sid said as he rounded the corner with Granny, the elderly sloth trying to chew the apple she'd acquired without the teeth necessary.
"Hey! Can you chew this thing for me?" Sid cringed at the saliva-coated apple. As Sid questioned the whereabouts of his parents, noticing their absence, Akira took the apple from the expectant old sloth. The sabress cleaned it off with a handful of snow before she got to carving and mushing it into tiny little pieces small enough that the sloth could swallow without trouble.
"Sid? Your family was wiped out by an asteroid. Sorry." Akira had been feeding Granny the small apple slices, tuned out of the conversation when that particular sentence caught her attention. She turned to glare at Diego as Sid was horrified. "What?!"
Akira returned her attention back to Granny as the elder sloth got impatient, taking a waiting piece from her paws. The sabress shook her head minutely at both sloth and sabre as Manny stepped forward. "Ahem! What Diego is trying to say is. . . they left. They only wanted to find you so you could take care of Granny." The apple slices were soon gone, Granny taking the last handful with a gummy grin and a jerky pat on the head to Akira before she was wandering off. The sabress watched her go, unable to actually follow her even if she wished to. She had quite the baggage.
"Come on, what kind of sick family would ditch their Granny on someone? That's just—just. . . that's just. . . my family." Akira glanced back at Sid, giving the sloth a small reassuring smile. "You still have us, Sid."
Diego nodded, "And Granny."
At the reminder, the sloth grinned. "Yeah, Granny. Granny? Granny?" Akira didn't bother looking around as the others did, already knowing the sloth was long gone.
"Wow. For an old girl, she moves fast."