"Diego!"
Manny could see the sabre in the dregs of what was left of the ship, diving beneath the waves as he screamed for his mate. The mammoth felt the loss himself, deep within it ached, but he had to keep going. Keep believing that someway, somehow, Akira wasn't caught beneath the waves where Diego desperately searched. And in believing so, Manny had to ensure Diego made it. That he didn't tire himself out in the middle of the ocean and drown because he was too exhausted to keep swimming.
"Akira! Akira!"
It was like they weren't even there as they drifted closer, Manny guiding them with the log that had been embedded in the ice, nearly uprooted from all that had befallen the ship. Sid was silent, slumped as he watched Diego with despairing eyes, realizing what no one had yet to voice—what no one wanted to even think about. The ship had gone down and Akira was nowhere to be found. She could be anywhere around them, struggling. . . drowning.
Manny was silent and blank-faced as he hoisted Diego out of the water, the sabre snarling in response. The mammoth paid no mind to the aggression, knowing well that he'd be doing much of the same if he lost Ellie or Peaches. He was also aware that as far as Diego was concerned with at the moment, he had lost both his mate and kids. "I need to find her."
The sabre would've dived back into the water, Manny knew, if he'd been able. He would've gone back in and he would've swam until he was physically incapable and he would've called for her until his voice failed him. But he didn't—couldn't—because his muscles were already protesting, Diego taking a step forward only for his legs to buckle in resistance. "You get back in the water, Diego, you're gonna join the ship. You won't make it long."
He tried, Manny watched as he did but his body simply refused. Diego collapsed in his spot and laid there wordlessly, his eyes screwed shut. . . the hopeless sabre grieved. The mammoth sighed, unsure whether he was to reassure him or give him his space. A desperate cry and the sound of struggling answered that for him, Manny turning away from his best friend to look out onto the water. There, struggling to paddle towards them was Jace, a white sabress motionless by his side. Sid appeared next to him, paws clasped together and eyes wide with hope. "Is that. . ?"
Granny momentarily gave them to time of day, glancing up from where she was whispering to the waves, presumably to her dead pet. "It looks like the monkey's."
The mammals, all except Diego, spared her a glance before looking back to the two sabres, able to see that as they grew closer, the sloth was right. Shira's coat was a few shades too dark to mistake for Akira's and the sabress certainly didn't have a baby bump to be found. They shared a collective sigh of disappointment, Manny stepping forward whilst Sid stepped back. "Just a little more, kid."
Jace looked like he was on the verge of stopping, close to sinking and taking Shira with him. He nearly did exactly that but he'd gotten close enough where Manny was able to pull the pair close and pull them up onto their float before exhaustion caught up with either of them. Shira was out cold but Jace was still conscious, coughing as he rolled onto his side and groaning at the ache in his limbs. "Why the long faces?"
There was a growl in warning from Diego, Jace raising his head to glance over at the sabre, taking it with the seriousness it was given. Sid had a gentler approach from where he sat hunched over by Diego, a paw on the sabre's back. "We lost Kira."
The reaction was instant. Jace's form slumped as he looked around at the mismatched crowd to see that indeed, his sister was nowhere to be seen. Manny silently watched as the same hopelessness in Diego's everything settled on Jace's face but then. . . it was gone. "She can't be." Replaced with denial. The depleted sabre turned to the ocean, looking as ready to jump back in as Diego had been mere seconds ago. "She isn't."
The previously motionless northern sabress abruptly coughed, water spilling from her mouth as she regained consciousness. "Unless you see her floating with the remnants of our destroyed ship, traitor, I don't think so." Jace snarled, whipping around to face Shira as both sabres wore the same expression of defiance on their face for varying reasons. "Shut the hell up, Shira. Just can it. If you'd just done the right thing, for once in your life, Akira would've made it off the ship and she would've been safe. My—those cubs would've been safe and she'd be right here."
If Jace was being entirely honest, he wanted to hurt her. He wanted to lunge and sink his fangs into any part he could get a hold of and just rip. But he couldn't do that. He wasn't that kind of sabre, the kind of mammal that could slaughter needlessly just because his anger directed him to. That was something Gutt would do and Jace wouldn't allow himself to be associated with anything even remotely close to that monster. Jace forcefully relaxed his muscles, stopping his snarling advance on Shira—suddenly noticing, and it hurt him to realize, that the sabress had sunk low, shocked as she awaited the seemingly inevitable attack—and heaved a deep, shuddering breath to reign himself in.
He turned away so he wouldn't have to look at her and feel that spike of anger or flood of guilt, sitting down facing the ocean because maybe, just maybe, he could catch a glimpse of his sister. "What if—"
A wooden cane promptly walloped him on the head, Jace seeing stars for a moment and forgetting his train of thought as a shrill voice cut through his dizziness. "Would you lot quit moping? Y'all see her floating around? She ain't here, there or anywhere—Precious has her."
Manny heaved a sigh, feeling a trickle of anger at the sloth's insistence upon her imaginary pet in the seriousness of their situation. Diego, reacting for the first time since Jace's appearance, raised his head to growl at the sloth. "Your damn pet's dead, sloth. It's not—" Sid's clumsy wave cut off Diego's growl and partial advance off and Manny believed it was for the better too because Granny looked ready to put up as much of a fight as Diego was willing to give. The mammoth didn't think he had the will to pull them apart if it had gotten violent, just as angry as Diego was at the ridiculousness of the sloth.
"Hey, wait, guys. Maybe Granny's right." Now Manny wanted to pummel Sid. "No, no, no," he'd reached out to do just that when the sloth scrambled back, gesturing all around them, "Look, guys. Pieces of the boats are all here, weird squirrely things and food but no Kira. She'd float, no matter what, right? So maybe she isn't here—maybe Granny's weird, freaky, imaginary pet did get her before we did and Kira's safe. And if she's safe, it doesn't matter if she's lost—we've been lost before, right? We'll find her again. I know we will."
Everyone stared wordlessly at the sloth and did so for long enough that even Sid got uncomfortable under all the attention. The stares didn't cease until Granny hobbled forward and thwacked Sid on the back with her paw, "Good boy, Sidney."
Manny sighed as the spell over them all seemed to be broken. He didn't expect a pep talk of sorts from Sid but. . . it was valid. It was plausible. They'd been in worse situations before and had gotten out practically unscathed—mostly. "Okay, Sid, you're right. Maybe Kira's waiting for us at Switchback Cove. After all, we got the luck of the century with all we get into and survive." Manny couldn't help the tiny part of him, however, that feared that luck had all but run out.
In all honesty, when Akira had been knocked off the ship, she'd stopped breathing entirely as the world around her slowed. The threatening surface of the water grew close and the sabress braced herself, terrified, all at once, for her cubs and how harsh the impact and waves of the ocean would be. But. . . it never came. There was impact but it wasn't harsh and there was no chilling water for her to sink beneath and breathe into her lungs in her shock.
Instead, she collided with a soft though enormous tongue and breathed filtered oxygen that smelt a little fishy—if Akira wasn't so concerned with where she was and how she was still alive, she would've thrown up. The sabress knew well enough that whatever she was inside was alive because it breathed and there were rows and rows of sharp teeth but the worry and fear were delayed. Not when the creature that had inhaled her had the potential to be friendly and somewhat familiar. It felt like a longshot but the whale Granny had extensively told her about had possibly been following them—Akira had peered out of her trunk once or twice and seen the bubbles blown to the surface, Granny acknowledging them as indicators of her pet's presence—so the odds were in her favour. "Precious?"
The answering groan was immediate and Akira, relieved, heaved a sigh. The whale had saved her before she hit the water and whilst she could really think of better places to be than inside the mouth of a massive sea creature, there were none safer in the middle of the ocean. "Thank you. Can. . . can you take me to Switchback Cove? That's where everyone will be—it's the way home."
There was an affirmative hum from Precious and Akira nodded to herself, glancing around the whale's spacious mouth, a shocked breath escaping her. "The furs." The bundle she'd wrapped up was there, off to the side, and Akira felt some of the burden trickle from her shoulders as she padded gently over to the furs, wary of her claws digging into the whale's tongue—that would be immensely uncomfortable.
The furs retrieved, Akira settled down on the damp surface of Precious' tongue, absently listening to the odd noises that echoed every now and then. It would take some time, she presumed, to reach their destination but not too long, she hoped and issued another thought that hopefully, her herd and brother would be alright—especially Diego. Akira knew if she had been the one on the receiving end, she wouldn't have taken seeing the sabre falling from the height of the ship into the unforgiving ocean to find no sign of him seconds later.
It wouldn't have made a difference if she had known that he couldn't be bested by the ocean, able to swim and find refuge on an ice sheet somewhere. The moment he'd gone out of sight, in her distress, Akira would've begun thinking the worst because land, they could handle. All the disasters that came along with it, they could weather. Floods, dinosaurs, and avalanches were manageable. Being in the middle of the ocean and being hunted by a manic ape and his crew was a whole other ballpark.
Akira wasn't sure how many hours had passed when Precious groaned, her first purposeful vocalization in hours. The sabress stirred, absently wondering if they had reached their destination. "Are we—" Before she could finish, the mouth she resided inside of slowly parted, Akira squinting and raising a paw to shield her eyes from the sudden sunlight that streamed in. She huffed, forcing her eyes to adjust as she slowly padded forward, peering out to see the island before her.
It wasn't anything to behold, a simple, small island with slight mountainous terrain and a patch of luscious forest that peaked over the side of the highest peak. This close and with Precious' mouth open, she could hear the calls of mammals and avians that inhabited the land and Akira desperately hoped her herd would soon join the cacophony of sounds.
"Guess this is it, huh?" The sabress muttered, suddenly displeased to leave the safety of the whale—even if it was inside her mouth and not the most sanitary or pleasant place in case she went into labour. Akira was well aware that she was on her own now for an indeterminate amount of time and she needed to find a place to settle down, water and a pileup of food good enough that she wouldn't go hungry when her cubs were born. She needed to have enough strength and energy and sustenance to take care of herself and, in turn, her babies.
As she stepped out onto a rather high rock purposely chosen to dock near, fur wrap in her mouth, Precious groaned softly in answer to her earlier dejected inquiry. The sabress sighed, as the whale waded forward so her eye was right next to her, the green depth peering at her with a warmth that was somewhat reassuring. "Will I see you again?" The eye crinkled and though the beast had closed her mouth, it twitched at the corner as if she wanted to grin. At that observation, Akira was certain the whale was amused. Though about what, she was unsure and chose to take the emotion as reassurance that she would indeed see the beast again.
"Good, okay, I. . . be safe, please." Akira glanced back at the island, her heart sinking into her stomach with sudden dread because now, once Precious was gone she'd be alone. Well and truly alone until she found her herd or had her cubs. If she managed to do either of those. With such chaos in her life, either of the two seemed less likely to happen without any inconvenience. The sabress supposed she would've delved deeper into her unsavoury thoughts if Precious hadn't tilted and disturbed the waves harshly enough that they lapped forcefully at her legs.
With a sigh, she gave the whale a fond look as the eye met hers again. "Okay, okay. Goodbye," she said with a whisper, stepping off of the rock just as Precious groaned a goodbye, disappearing beneath the waves. Akira waded forward, fighting not to look back and fighting not to cry.