"And where have you been?" Akira questioned from where she lay on an elevated, cool rock, resting. Percy had recently joined her when Diego reluctantly parted with her to join Manny and Sid in the search for the sloth's grandmother.
"By the Falls waiting for Peaches but she didn't show so I went looking and found you. Speaking of, you wouldn't mind if I left right? I really need to find Peaches before she gets herself in trouble. She's never actually been in the hangout before."
Akira had thought all the times the mammoth had snuck off that she would've infiltrated and exchanged more than a glance with the teens that hung out there but she should've known better. The intensity of Peaches's crush spoke volumes of the fact that she had no idea of Ethan's self-absorbed personality—something Akira had discovered after exchanging a measly three words with the mammoth in greeting.
"I'll come with. To be a responsible soon-to-be mother, I'm not actually meant to be alone." Akira said as she pushed herself to her feet with a huff. "That, and all these little tremors are a bit worrying. Last time they happened, a colossal-sized dinosaur took me for a little vacation—and don't get me wrong, it was fun, looking back but I'm not cut out for it currently."
The pregnant sabress walked leisurely alongside her son who gave her an odd look. "I still find it hard to believe you guys went and saw dinosaurs. And a little upset that I was told to stay back."
Akira shrugged. "I mean, I didn't tell you to stay back but Ellie was right to do so. That sabre pack that came around while we were all gone would've decimated the village, our markings aside. You being there was proof there would've been repercussions."
The sabre huffed at the praise as they neared the falls. "Yeah, yeah but it's not every day dinosaurs come out of some underground world. Would've been cool to see—maybe have proof that it happened."
Akira cocked her head in remembrance, her eyes shining with the memory of her reptilian friends. "Actually, there is. I went back to the cave one day, closest I could get to feeling like I was close to them again and found a tooth—pretty sure it was from the dinosaur that bridge the gap before—but it's here on the surface. I buried it near our caves that same day."
Percy perked up, glancing at her as they—well, Percy, spotted Louis at the top of the frozen falls, cheers and delighted yells able to be heard from below. "You're kidding, right? You got a tooth and you never showed it to me? All those years after?"
The sabre looked thoroughly offended and Akira gave him a half-hearted, sheepish smile. "I kinda forgot about it after a while. Peaches was born, I was missing the friends I made and soon after I found my family. One day we can go back and look for it. I'd be all for even moving back because, honestly, this place. . . as nice as it is, feels like it's coming apart under our paws."
Percy nodded in agreement as they approached a dejected-looking Louis. "Too bad you're due any day now. I wouldn't mind leaving too—Peaches' obsession with Ethan is driving me nuts and the tremors are giving me flashbacks too. Can't mean nothing good if something big happens."
Akira glanced down at the pouting mole hog with her own frown. "Won't be nothing but an inconvenience. Ellie gave birth surrounded by dinosaurs. Taught me a thing or two about mothers. I'll be fine, I'm sure, with whatever comes my way.
"What's up with you, hun?" This was directed at Louis who had barely acknowledged their presence.
"What's not wrong with me?" The mole hog huffed, his frown deepening.
Akira's did the same. "Well, absolutely nothing is but your lack of confidence. Peaches?" The latter was an entirely different question, a simple word that spoke volumes. It wasn't exactly common knowledge but Akira was rather attentive to others and noticed Louis' sweet, little crush of Peaches but the mammoth was much too occupied with her own obsession to notice the mammal's feelings.
"Who else? 'I'm the greatest friend ever.'"
Akira gave him a soft smile of reassurance, ruffling his short, soft quills warmly. "She'll get over him eventually. Did she—"
"Oh no." Percy winced.
"Ahhh!"
The scream was an unknown one but the blurry source was familiar as she slid dangerously down the icy decline. The mammoth's screams and cries for it to stop were telltale enough that her descent was far from intended. Akira hoped Peaches would be alright as she tumbled down the falls, the trio backing away to take the safer path down and check on the mammoth.
Akira strolled into the base of the falls, Percy by her side, just in time to see Manny hastily pull his daughter away from Ethan, the two young mammoths caught in a rather awkward predicament as the latter had been there to soften her fall. "You!" The eldest of the three mammoths began. "Keep away from my daughter!"
The sabress, knowing full well their entanglement was nothing more than an accident, felt sympathetic for Peaches and a bit disappointed at Manny for not properly accessing the situation. Now, all eyes were on the three and Peaches was painfully aware of such. As Manny went about grounding his daughter, quite publically, unfortunately, Akira's eyes flickered over the gathered crowd with distaste as she heard their whispers.
"Loser alert," Percy growled quietly beside her, easily picking up on the not-so-quiet whispers.
"That's her dad. Seriously, that's embarrassing." Akira gently nudged the sabre, Percy getting the hint as he bounded to Peaches' side, nudging her pointedly.
"What mammoth climbs trees and hangs out with sabres." Peaches and Percy escaped the scene as Akira lugged her pregnant self over to Manny, sighing audibly to catch his attention. He glanced down at her with a groan as her expression spoke volumes of just how badly he had messed up. "Listen, Kira, I told her—"
"What a freak." It was an unnecessary murmur, a lingering comment at Peaches as a few watched where the mammoth had disappeared with the younger, northern sabre. Manny hadn't picked up on it but effortlessly, Akira had and she was the one to cut the father off as she whipped around, fangs bared in a snarl. Normally, she had a better grip on her temper but since her upcoming motherhood, she was a bit of a loose cannon and though most knew better, few had yet to learn not to cross certain lines. As kind as she usually was, familial lines were of the utmost importance and practically a death sentence if the one who crossed didn't have the knowledge to run.
"Come on. Gotta find Peaches." Manny said hurriedly, his trunk redirecting the angry sabre as she readied herself to pounce on the quivering deer. Thankfully, she was easily coerced because truly, she wasn't trying to bloody her coat. Scarring the other herbivores was the least of her worries after they'd all played a part in their rude whispers about Peaches.
The pair exited the falls, Akira falling behind and Manny rushing ahead to catch up with Percy and Peaches when he spotted them. "Peaches! Peaches, come on. Let's talk about this!"
The mammoth continued walking though she threw a backward glance at her father and a rather hurt and angry one at that. "How could you embarrass me in front of my friends?"
Manny huffed, advancing a little faster. "You deliberately went where you weren't supposed to!"
Peaches scoffed. "You can't control my life! Auntie Kira doesn't control Percy and neither does Uncle Diego! Why can't you just leave me be?"
"I'm trying to protect you! That's what fathers do."
Peaches' pace slowed, Percy glancing back between father and daughter, Akira too for a moment. "Well. . . I wish you weren't my father." Akira halted mid-step, partially because Sid had appeared out of nowhere in her path and partially in her surprise at Peaches' words. Manny had done the same, Percy stumbling over his own paws in shock. The mammoth stormed off once she saw her hurtful words had made their mark and Ellie, a bit baffled by her daughter's outburst, approached them with reassuring eyes for her husband.
"She's just upset, honey." Ellie glanced over her shoulder to where her daughter was, stopped by Percy hastily whispering something to her. "Peaches! It's not the end of the world."
The trembling that followed the mammoth's words was not comforting in the slightest and Akira tensed, a warmth appearing on either side of her in the forms of Diego and Sid. Her mate pressed close, eyes restless as he looked around for the danger and the sloth laid a paw on her back, worry evident on his expression. The sound of trees collapsing and rocks tumbling echoed through the cool, afternoon air as a flock of birds flew overhead, startled from their resting place.
"Uh, excuse me?" Sid said, attempting to lighten the mood which had grown rather tense.
Diego humoured him, tense. "I don't think that was you."
Akira's fur stood on end as she watched a crack appear along the ground of ice and rock, sourcing further inland and evidently a result of the brief earthquake. It seemed the waves they had gotten earlier were just a precursor to the real thing but even the one that had just occurred. . . it was nothing great save for the hindrance the crack could cause. Right now, she stood with her mate, Sid and Manny. Percy, Peaches and Ellie were on the other side. Which side was safest, however, was up for debate.
Silence settled over the mammals for a minute, Diego watching the crack with narrowed eyes. "This isn't good." He murmured.
"What was that?" Ellie frowned, looking to the mountains, in the direction where the rumbling had originated from. As Manny tried to reassure his wife, he crept forward as Diego and Sid ushered Akira forward as well.
Akira was just about to situate a paw on the other side when she heard it. The sound of ice splitting was implanted in her brain after her decades-old encounter with those sea creatures after she'd been dealt a deck of cards that had nearly killed her. "Manny—!" No sooner than she had cried out had their platform shuddered and fallen a notch, a chasm separating the herd. "Manny! Kira!"
"Dad!"
"Mom! Diego!"
Akira's eyes found Percy, Peaches and Ellie as she stumbled, barely managing to sink her claws into the surface of the ice to prevent herself from sliding as Manny did. Diego was glued to her side, pupils blown wide in his panic as he realized that their platform of ice was completely detached from all semi-safe levels of ground surrounding them. Sid would've been making an effort to calm the sabre down a smidge if he wasn't pinned underneath Akira, the sabress making it her job to keep him safe from sliding around possibly falling to his death.
"Peaches! Get back!" Akira glanced up at Manny's yell, watching horrified for a moment as the mammoth slid precariously back before he was propelling himself forward. The horror returned when it dawned on her just what he was about to do.
She nudged Diego. "Diego, stop him. He's going to jump!"
Sid and Diego followed her gaze, both of their eyes widening. "He won't make it." The males chorused. The sabre wasted no time sprinting to his long-time best friend and had just managed to intercept his leap before it failed and led to a gruesome end.
"Diego!" The mammoth was irate, desperate and terrified but neither Diego nor Akira cared for his desperation could've been his end.
"You wouldn't have made it." The sabre hissed as his mate aimed her gaze back to the ledge that now towered above them. She met Percy's wide, anxious eyes.
"Don't worry, Perce!" Akira paused, looking around for a sign, anything. She was already in survival mode, pregnancy be damned. She may be a couple of pounds heavier but she could very well survive their latest dilemma. "The land bridge!" Akira cried, spotting the roadway of rocks and snow that stretched across to their crumbling home and another mass of land. "The land—Ellie, the land bridge! Take the kids and go! You'll be safe on the other side."
Where they once towered over the water, they no longer did as the rock supporting them fractured and the ice shattered, the herd and other unfortunate mammals falling freely or on various slabs to the water below. Diego was torn from her side and Sid was swept from underneath her, much to the sabress' horror.
"Manny! Akira!" Ellie cried, her trunk outstretched to her mate, her eyes flickering between him and Akira. The sabress did her best to keep her grip on her slab as she prepared for her crash in the water below. "We'll be alright, Ellie! Go! Get to safety!"
Akira heard a louder, less distinct rumbling and looked up and watched as a rock wall rose high in the air or rather. . . the land sink. It was so absurd she laughed, pressing her face to her sheet of ice as the world crumbled around her. A landslide decades after a flash flood and a decade and some after her fossil-filled adventure. It seemed twelve years had been too docile for the herd and life was throwing them another curveball in the form of another disaster, this one more natural unlike the last and much like the first.
The shock of the water chilled her bones and Akira had nearly lost her grip on the sheet of ice she held onto as it slipped under the water and the collision dislodged her back legs. As quickly as her platform vanished from underneath her, however, it returned and as the ice was a reliable floating device, she broke the surface within seconds, little effort needed on her part. The sabress half-heartedly shook the water from her coat, shivering slightly as it seeped into her skin before a mass radiating warmth joined her, nuzzling her with concern.
"I'm fine." She reassured but Diego's inspection didn't cease.
"Yeah, well, fine would be giving birth on stable ground, not on an iceberg floating off to the middle of the ocean." The sabre huffed and Akira hummed noncommittally, glancing up to where they'd once stood. The glare of the sun prevented effective visual aid but it gave enough for the sabress to acknowledge that she and Diego were in the line of possible danger as two rock columns fell into one another, the collision causing chunks of ice to fall there they stood the erect rocks to begin a slow decline in their direction. Diego ushered her back in a panic though she was way ahead of him in her retreat.
Thankfully, the columns didn't collide with their raft but it didn't work well in their favour either. The submergence of the rocks created a wave so large that it pushed them farther out to sea than the current could ever hope to in such a short time afloat.
"Mom!" Akira frowned deeply as Percy's desperate cry broke her heart. There was nothing she could do, could have done in their particular predicament.
"You make it to that land bridge, Perce! I'm coming back to you!" She promised. She knew his keen ears would pick up on her words over the distance. Manny made his same promises, and if Ellie and Peaches didn't hear them, Percy would relay it to them. "Be brave," She whispered, feeling the fear for her cubs, born and unborn, creeping into her mind.
Diego pressed his snout to hers in silent reassurance tinged with a bit of worry. "We'll make it back to him, Kira."
"We have to." A familiar paw returned to its place on her flank as Sid joined them, wearing a small smile.
It was moments later when Manny's trunk flattened the fur between her ears. "The kids will be okay, tiger."