A/N: A fluffly little drabble I wrote way back after I'd first seen the second movie. I forgot it in my notebook and recently found it and tweaked it. I really want to see the movie out now.
Heat rays blasted glaciers into literal melting mountains. It was bizarre seeing what you had always taken for granted to last throughout your lifetime change so drastically. Night would soon be falling but until then, one could only trudge along hoping to find safe shelter before the sun disappeared into the western sky.
Manny did a quick roll call in his head, checking to make sure no one was straggling. He really didn't feel up to any search and rescue missions. Hopefully, he would be granted peace for some short amount of time. Ellie was trudging alongside him with Eddie and Crash dozing atop her. Manny almost pointed out that the boys might be a little too rested tonight, but thought better of it. He really didn't want to have to deal with them right now.
Sid and Diego were trailing a bit, Manny noticed. The two had been hanging back a lot lately. He would be more grateful if the two of them could get Crash and Eddie to hang back with them, but he was still thankful for the thought. He could hear Sid's voice float through the evening air, a teasing quality in it. He was always trying his best to get under the tiger's skin. Manny rolled his eyes, hoping Sid didn't push too far one day.
"That was amazing, Diego!" he was saying. "You swam! Now, not only are you a tiger traveling with a herd of herbivores, but you are a swimming tiger traveling with a group of herbivores."
"What exactly are you getting at?" Diego asked, caught somewhere between annoyance and genuine interest.
Sid smirked. "That you're weird!"
"Coming from you, I'm not sure if that's an insult or a compliment," Diego replied, rolling his eyes and picking up his pace.
"Compliment!" Manny and Ellie both affirmed in unison, sharing a smile with each other.
Crash had shot up at some point and had been eavesdropping. He called out to Diego, "It's okay, you're obviously not the only freak in this herd."
Eddie also popped up, nodding vigorously. "Yeah, this is a strange herd."
Manny eyed the two. He was beginning to doubt the two had even been sleeping. Maybe that had been their strange way to give him and Ellie some space? Or maybe they had just wanted to spy on the two. Probably the latter, he figured.
"It is a weird herd," Sid agreed with Crash and Eddie, saying it rather thoughtfully. Not that it required a lot of thought to figure that out, Manny thought with a slight shake of his head.
"And it only gets weirder," Diego commented dryly. He glanced around. "I can't wait to see who's going to join our little motley crew next."
"As long you don't eat them," Sid said and dodged a swipe, letting out a high pitched shriek. "He's gonna eat me!"
"Don't eat Sid, Diego," Manny warned.
"I wasn't going to," he grumbled in reply. "I was only going to hurt him."
Manny shook his head, grinning. He knew they were just messing around. Still, he never thought he would've wound up in this bizarre position, a defacto leader for a motley crew, as Diego had so aptly put it. It would be interesting to see how or if any other animals could join them, how they might add to the interactions around here. He doubted anyone could throw one-liners the way Sid and Diego managed to. It was like some crazy side-show that he sometimes found himself joining in on. Still, this was a motley crew he was willingly a part of and he could honestly say he wouldn't want to be part of any other herd out there, no matter how weird they were.