Diego only felt half bad about abandoning the sea of hyraxes to sprint forward, slowing up just in time so he didn't knock his mate over. He nuzzled her as he moved around her, checking that there was nothing wrong with her, that there were no extra and unwanted injuries. He found a few bruises, tender spots on her flank that even the sabress didn't seem to know about but other than that, she and their cubs were doing good for the situation they'd found themselves in.
Akira couldn't put into words the calmness that Diego's presence reinstated, the soon-to-be mother all too aware of the exhaustion that seeped into her muscles from the long and gruelling days at sea. She slumped against him as he rubbed his head beneath her chin, his scent—just barely detectable underneath the smell of the sea—enveloping her.
Her cubs' restlessness since the separation from her herd had steadily left her tired and uncomfortable but as if they sensed her comfort or their company. . . they stopped, calmer then than they'd been since the landslide.
"Kira!" She huffed fondly as Sid tripped over his own feet, stumbling into her hard enough that it would've knocked her over if not for Diego—the sabre grumbled his distaste but it was Sid, a grumble was all. "Missed you too, Sid," she murmured as she embraced the sloth, bypassing that his natural stink had come back, made worse by the salty sea smell, "I'm glad you guys are okay."
In true Sid fashion, he clung to her, sobbing loudly as he clumsily petted where he could reach, babbling nonsense words that still managed to warm her heart. Indulging with an affectionate smile, she glanced up from Sid to meet Manny's eyes as he approached, settling beside them with an exasperatedly fond expression directed at Sid. "You good, Tiger?"
His trunk fluffed the fur between her ears, one twitching as she tilted her head back to peer up at him, eyes weary but with a gleam. "Better now. Thought I'd be having my cubs alone." A growl of disagreement from her mate while Manny inclined his head in his and Sid, now quietly sniffling, shook his head. "Never." The three chorused, admittedly fearful of the fact themselves but relieved it hadn't come to fruition. "Of course," she muttered, a small smile on her lips as Sid slumped against her, curling around her front legs with his ear pressed to her bump. It was only a given that one of the cubs inside reacted to the pressure, pushing curiously against it.
The sabress tuned out Sid as he began whispering to her cubs, instead, redirecting her gaze to the flood of hyraxes and the two sabres. She noted that Jace kept his distance and for a moment, she was bewildered by why until she caught Diego's warning expression from the corner of her eye and Manny's emphasis on his tusks. Akira nearly rolled her eyes, refraining from doing so as Granny and Kirri, the youngest hyrax, scurried up to her.
She and the others, respectively patient and impatient, waited for the hyrax to settle on her head and for Granny to jostle her grandson until she found sufficient space to plop herself down where she saw fit. When the pair was content enough, she looked back up to meet her brother's gaze, noting his signs of restlessness and worry. Akira knew that nothing more would reassure him of her safety than to have her near but for now, they'd both have to hold out. Her herd wouldn't let her go an inch too far without being close behind if not glued to her flank.
"How'd you make it out?" The sabress tilted her head at her brother as he voiced the question on everyone's minds though the one only at the forefront of a few. "Would you believe me if I told you I had help from a giant whale?" Granny snickered from the ball she'd curled up into, one eye peeking from her mound of fur to catch Akira's wink.
"A what?" Shira spoke up for the first time Akira had arrived, confined in a prison of a slightly uprooted tree behind Jace. Akira's ear twitched in her displeasure, her light-hearted expression all but gone as she regarded the threat to her family. Her eyes flashed dangerously as she eyed the former member of Gutt's crew. "You—I should rip your throat out after everything you've done."
Diego made a noise of agreement and even Sid made a sleepy noise of assent but Manny, never one to be pushed until there was little else made a placating noise, disagreeing for the time being.
The jailed sabress snarled, "Everything I've done?! You and your herd—!" Akira flexed her claws into the soft Earth, all too aware that the sloths and hyrax were relaxed, comfortable and dozing, and she didn't want to disturb them too much. Or wake Kirri for her to hear any of it. "—were only trying to get home! We were never a threat. All we wanted was to be safe and to find our family again. Was that too much to ask or are you so delusional that you can't see the wrong in what a monster like Gutt does? That you're as expendable as his victims? As the slaves he takes? As the cubs he wanted to cut out of me?"
Shira's anger faltered then, the sneer now half-hearted and frozen on the sabress' face. Akira shook her head, feeling fatigue creeping up. "How many families did you just sit back and watch him tear apart? How many did you join in on?" Too many went unspoken as her brother directed his gaze to the ground, guilt written all over the way he held himself because he knew that as much as she was ripping into Shira, angry, he wasn't innocent either. As Gutt's first mate, the mammal he trusted most. . . Jace's paws were soaked in the blood, sweat and tears that made the ape the ruthless captain he was. And if she hadn't recognized him. . , "Was mine just another number you'd lose track of?"
Jace hunched further in on himself and Shira. . . she had nothing to say. "Kira. . . I—" At the time, for his survival, maybe he had to but the cub Akira remembered would have never stood down and submitted out of fear. Jace had spent all of his life proving he was more than his weaknesses, that he was going to persevere no matter the odds against him. But by Gutt's side, he'd forgotten who he was—lost himself for good, maybe. Because Akira couldn't look at the sabre meant to be him and say, without a doubt, that he'd stand up against the captain when backed into a corner. That he'd defy the monster till his dying breath.
And he knew that she now knew that. It shone in his eyes as they stared at her, wide and glistening, his ears as they perked up before flattening back against his head. "I'm so sorry." But sorry didn't wash his paws clean. It didn't bring back the dead. It didn't give peace to the families who had lost so much—that was if survivors even remained.
"I know you are, Jay. I know."
"Ack, would you—Kira!"
The sabress ignored the sloth's protests as she doused him with clean, unsalted water for the small, bleeding wound on his shoulder. She refused to lick her herd clean for a multitude of reasons and the top one was every disgusting things the ocean had soaked them with. So the hyraxes lent a paw or ten to fetch some water from the pond nearby so she could still clean them as she wanted.
Granny was her first victim and it was traumatizing for both of them but the result of learning that her grungy coat was still a lovely purple underneath was worth the verbal abuse. After the elder sloth, it was Diego who was good-natured enough, knowing that of her whole herd, as the most durable, he was more likely to get nipped. Following her mate, Manny didn't need to be called or examined, instead padding over silently and holding out his front, left foot for her to clean and have the hyraxes wrap the slightly deep gash to protect from infection.
And there was Sid, dramatic as ever acting as if she was drowning him. "Would you relax? It's for your own good!" Diego, laying beside her, snorted. "Yeah, Sid, for once you'll be clean." The sloth stopped his cries to glare at the sabre. "For once—I'll have you know, I'm always clean! What you're calling gross is my natural, masculine musk. Takes a true sloth to appreciate it." Diego wildly disagreed but as a few hyraxes tied the knot on Sid's bandage in his distraction, Akira nudged Diego so he didn't provoke the sloth further. Manny, however, couldn't help it as he dryly said, "Of course, buddy. Ever the lady killer."
And Sid, the sarcasm bouncing right off him, grinned smugly at the southern sabre struggling to hold in his laughter. "Ha! Hear that? I'm a lady killer." He didn't wait for a retort, prancing off into the bushes singing to himself. With him out of earshot, Manny and Diego fell into a round of snickering, the mammoth nudging Diego which only furthered their laughter. And Akira. . . she could only roll her eyes even as her lips ticked up in a fond smile.
The sabress would let them have this moment. Tomorrow, when everyone was rested, they'd have to discuss a plan of getting back home once Gutt was dealt with and with that. . . with that came dread and a foreboding feeling that something was bound to go wrong. Gutt wouldn't let them go without a fight. Not without doing everything in his power to ensure he ruined one last family before he did.
But Akira and hers had faced worse. They could do it all, whatever it may be—had to for the sake of their herd.
Smile still in place though a little duller than before, Akira laid her head down on her front paws, hoping to see that light on the other side. That everyone in this little clearing would. Her eyes flickered to her brother and where Shira was locked away. Everyone and then some.
"Mom was due two days ago."
Ellie perked up at the quiet murmur beside her. "Hm, what was that?" It was a few hours before dawn and the mammals were trying to cover as much ground as they could before dark. They were close to the land bridge but not close enough for how close the wall had gotten, narrowing their path enough that they were thinned out within concern now.
"Mom. If she was on time like Dr. Woods said, the cubs would've been born two days ago. At sea. On a sheet of ice." With each word, the young sabre sounded more stressed and the mammoth frowned, glancing behind them before she ushered the sabre to the rock wall to safely stop. "Percy, due dates—they're a guideline, not something set in stone. Believe me when I say babies have a mind of their own, they come when their ready and I bet," Ellie used her trunk to angle the sabre's head up so she could meet his eyes, "I bet those babies are as smart as their parents and they know—they know that it's not time yet. Our herd will come back, Perce and you'll meet the cubs and we'll all love them to bits."
Ellie ruffled his ears, smiling as the sabre ducked away as he always did. "Everything will be okay." Percy huffed, looking out past the march of mammals to the ocean that stretched on for miles upon miles. "Yeah, it has to be, right? It's just the ocean—they just have to float into the current coming back and they'll be good." The pair didn't acknowledge the mammoth's momentary pause before she nodded, eyes warm. "Yeah, honey. They will be." One could only hope.
Akira sat in front of her hollow, extended by Sid and Manny using sticks, leaves and a bit of mud to provide more shelter and a comfortable layer between them and the ground. Manny was fast asleep, tired from the days passed and Granny was curled up on the sabress' furs inside, hyraxes piled onto her and a few on Manny. Diego lazed beside the mammoth, awake and waiting for her before he'd retire for the night although he was losing the fight to sleep.
Sid was doing whatever it was before bed, still off in the bushes with a few adolescent hyraxes, singing to himself as he pranced about in the dimming light of the setting Sun. The remaining hyraxes—elders—not in her camp or with the sloth lingered in the tree where Shira was being held, ready to alarm at any suspicious activity. Jace guarded her too but brother or not, she couldn't find it in her to trust he wouldn't release his former crewmate on a whim. She didn't think he'd go back but if Shira convince him to let her go, she surely would and that was enough of a risk as it was.
Her brother though. . . he barely kept Shira in his line of sight, wanting to be as far from her as possible but aware of his responsibility. He laid down, head on his front paws, ears twitching every now and then and sulking about as hard as he did when he'd truly done a horrible thing. Which when young, seemed painstakingly insignificant as the innocent blood on his hands did now.
She sighed softly, watching the sabre for a moment longer before she made a decision, clambering to her feet. Akira had barely made the decision to stand before Diego perked up, making a soft, tired noise of inquiry. The sabress backtracked to him, bumping her nose against his in reassurance, "It's okay, you're right here. I'll be fine." Her mate didn't like it one bit but alongside knowing he couldn't stop her without some resistance, he acquiesced, nuzzling her back before he nudged her forward. Akira smiled, pleased and turned to approach her brother as Diego settled back down, drowsy eyes now alert as he watched her like a hawk.
Jace didn't seem to notice her as she neared, seemingly lost in his own world since he was evidently startled when she plopped down next to him, pinning him in place with a paw as she began grooming him. When they were younger and she'd pin him to groom him when their parents were too busy, the cub would fight her tooth and claw, crying out bloody murder as if she were digging her fangs in. Now, however, seemingly a lifetime later, Jace only relaxed beneath her, a stuttering purr beginning in the back of his throat.
He remained content when she finished minutes later, shifting to rest her head atop his, echoing his purr quietly. "I chose not to come back." Had Akira not suspected such herself, she would've stopped purring upon hearing him, driving the wedge between them ever so deeper. "I thought it'd be better that way. For everyone. For you. I was always getting sick, always worrying everyone. . . I mean, if I hadn't been sick in that storm, you wouldn't have to stay back and we wouldn't have been caught in that avalanche."
Akira paused her purring to make a noise of disagreement. As the runt, when he was young Jace had indeed gotten sick more, physically more fragile despite his mental strength. He sprained his paws more, small bumps dealing more damage than one would think and too-quick temperature changes made him feverish and weak for a few days at a time. But never had any of it pushed her or the rest of their pack to think any less of him, especially as a burden. Still, she let him continue.
"When Gutt found me, I was in horrible shape. Broken ribs and sprained back legs, and I was ricocheting from fever to hypothermia. I was almost dead and I was a more fitting meal than someone to save but he did anyways and I was in his debt. And when the chance came to leave, when he said he'd let me, I stayed because, at sea, I was stronger—felt stronger. I wasn't the runt who needed his big sister by his side, whose parents were prepared to keep in their pack because he'd never be strong enough to go off on his own. To hunt, to survive, to fight. At Gutt's side, as his first mate, I could do all of that. I was able to be someone else and I. . . I latched onto that and lost sight of who I was."
In losing himself, Akira could agree and though she couldn't fathom how, she understood that a taste of strength and freedom after a life of cave walls and sickness would overpower most and blind them. It mattered more that Jace knew his wrongs now and wanted something different for himself. She only wished she had found him sooner, that she could have opened his eyes to their reality now and saved a few more lives—including his—along the way. "You can do better now—I'm trusting you to do that."
He nodded beneath her, "I'll do everything I can to protect you, Kira. You and those cubs—Gutt won't get near you. I'll die before that happens." And despite the decades apart, Akira knew the conviction in her brother's words wasn't for show and not without certainty. She couldn't entrust her herd's safety in his paws but that of hers and by extension, her cubs, was all but guaranteed.
"The only mammal who'll be dead by the end of this will be Gutt, Jace. I won't lose you again and sure as hell not my herd." Jace was silent, evidently disagreeing with Gutt's death. Maybe because a part of him still cared for the beast or maybe because he believed the ape to be an untouchable force, something unkillable but either way, he softly nodded before changing the subject minutes later.
"Your herd is weird," a soft though warning growl had him pausing but Akira meant no harm, only a simple caution, "but they're loyal. I'd never seen any mammals fight as hard as they do for someone—not even for themselves. Your mate nearly drowned trying to find you and the mammoth. . . he went toe to toe with Gutt because he was a threat to you. No one's ever held their own against him—none brave enough to try. They'd risk it all for you, for each other."
Akira lifted her head to find where her herd was, Diego still awake—barely—and Sid's head popping out of the bushes. "That's what you do in a herd. You look out for each other, have each other's backs." She grinned, shifting as Sid cried out, "Aha!" and turned till he found her, running over with the biggest grin. "First surprise all done!" She arched a brow at him as he held up one of the shell necklaces around his arm, separate from the one around his neck. "The first?" she inquired, lowering her head so Sid could slip a necklace over her head.
"Yup, since the nursery was lost in the landslide, I thought I'd build some stuff for the new one." He'd said it dismissively as if it wasn't a big deal what he was intending to do but the thought alone had Akira smiling so hard it hurt. "Aw, Sid," she nuzzled him, nearly knocking the giggling sloth over, "thank you." He beamed at her, shrugging bashfully, "It's no biggie." She huffed fondly, "Yes, it is," she pawed at the other necklace Sid had, "is that Diego's?" Over Sid's shoulder, she caught the sabre as he narrowed his eyes.
"Huh?" The sloth was lost before he remembered what hung on his arm, "oh, yeah!" The sabress laughed quietly as Sid plopped a kiss on her head before he was skipping over to Diego, harassing the sabre into wearing the shells around his neck, having to do very little because as mean as Diego would be, he and Sid were endearingly close. Smile still in place, she glanced down at her brother to see him watching the two but upon feeling her gaze, he looked up at her.
"I'm glad to have you back, Jay. Our pack will be too." That seemed to reassure him, the sabre giving her the first smile of the night. "Yeah. . . mom still a mother hen?" Akira snorted as she got to her feet, "she and dad switched roles. He really tries to pay it off but I stumbled and stubbed my paw one time and I swear he stopped breathing for the whole day. Like if he breathed wrong, my paw would fall off or something." He snorted a surprised laugh, eyes a bit brighter. "I miss them so much." Akira leaned down to bump their heads gently, "Soon you won't have to." She left on that note with a goodnight lost in the gentle breeze.
Akira barely settled inside her hollow when Diego rose, stretching with a wide yawn before he padded inside to join her, the sloths and the hyraxes, shells clinking against each other all the while. She snickered as he collapsed beside her, curling around her so that her head could be laid on his back. Sid snored, muttering to himself in his sleep as he rolled over obnoxiously, snuggling against her. The sabress smiled to herself as she let her eyes close, finding safety surrounded by her herd.
Jace lay there for some time after his sister and hers retired. He felt Shira's gaze on him, had for hours, but her mean jabs had ceased when Akira had come and had yet to resume after her leave. "Gutt would never go to the extent her herd did." He cut through the quiet but didn't turn to face her although, he knew she was listening. "You did everything he asked and he left you to drown. I was as close to him as anyone could get but the second he laid eyes on her, he didn't hesitate. He doesn't care about us—never did. He never looked out for us. Never watched our backs."
She said nothing for a while and Jace thought she'd remain quiet until she spoke up. "He saved your life. Saved mine. We owe that to him." But even she didn't sound so sure and Jace. . . he had long since ceased to feel it. "He saved our lives so we'd be indebted to him. Not because he cared, not out of the good of his heart but because we would owe him for the rest of our lives. He never cared, Shira and the fact that we stayed makes us the monster we fear. Makes us no better than him."
And there was no defence, no justification because it all was so undeniably true. For all they had watched and let Gutt get away with? Well, they might've just flexed their claws and dug in themselves.