Disclaimer: I wish I could say I owned Ice age but I do not. All are property of Blue Sky Studios.

But I do own Sheba, Samson, Len, Talia and all the rest of my characters, etc. etc. that will appear in upcoming chapters.

Anyway, to the story!!

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The evening air was still. It was dead silent. Not a bird or insect made a sound. The only sounds were the rustling of the leaves and the occasional sound of the breeze. But the mammoth standing next to his mate knew it hadn't been this way for long. It was quite the opposite. As he looked at his mate's worried face, a feeling of unease settled upon him as he remembered the events that happened less than an hour ago.

Start of flashback

It was your typical afternoon. Animals frolicked and youngsters played. And as usual, the two possums of the herd - or miscreants as Diego called them- were playing a game of tag. The mammoth bull sighed as the possums by the names of Crash and Eddie, got too close to the carefully done mobile he was making for his mate for perhaps the 11th time that day.

"I told you to stay clear of that! I'm not gonna tell you again!" he rumbled angrily.

"I thought you said not to touch it, not away from it!" the possum, Eddie replied.

"My point exactly!" echoed his brother Crash. "You said we couldn't play with it, not that we couldn't be in the same forest as it! You're such a part pooper."

The mammoth, Manny was just about to march over to them and give them a spanking of their lifetimes when a beautiful female mammoth came out of the bushes.

"Is the surprise done yet?" she asked as her beautiful green eyes scanning the area.

"Not yet Ellie." Manny exclaimed. "And those two." He said pointing to the possums, "are stalling my efforts. They're acting up and being-"

"Miscreants." A smooth voice interjected as a tawny saber tooth tiger made his way through the undergrowth. It was Diego. "Miscreants" had been his favorite name to call the possums the past two months despite their protest.

"They're not miscreants. They're possums." replied Sid, a lovable but extremely annoying sloth with the world's worst hygiene. He walked out of the bushes just in time to get a serious glare from Manny. The mammoth sighed.

"Whatever." he replied, ignoring them. "I have to get this done." Manfred was just about to turn tail when Diego bounded up to him.

"Manny. We didn't just come here to kid around. There's something serious going on."

"Like what?" the mammoth asked as he walked by, not really paying attention.

"Well, I have this funny feeling. It kind of reminds me of-"

The ground gave a quick, mild shake. All eyes turned to Diego. Now everyone sensed something was up though they didn't know what it was.

"I don't know." replied Sid, picking up a dandelion to eat, thinking they were looking at him for an answer.

Diego sighed. "Like I said, I think there is going to be a-"

"EARTHQUAKE!" Ellie screamed.

Suddenly there was a loud rumble. Rocks began to crack and weak saplings fell to the ground as the ground started shaking violently. The Earth began to tremble and the whole forest started to fall down tree by tree and cliffs and caves crumbled to the ground.

"Everybody this way!" Manny yelled as he spotted a clearing nearby free of anything that might fall on them. Manny promptly put Sid on his back and the possums rushed onto Ellie. The group charged toward the clearing, dodging rocks and trees that fell. The herd went to the center of the meadow and huddled together there, waiting for the terrible earthquake to end.

Suddenly the ground stopped shaking and all fell quiet. After a few moments, Sid climbed off Manny's back and Crash and Eddie sighed in relief.

"Is it over?" Ellie asked Manny.

But before her mate could reply, the earthquake suddenly resumed a and huge rock cliff started making it's way out of the ground right where the herd was standing.

Diego leapt to the other side of the cliff as Sid climbed onto his back to escape the jagged rocks popping up beneath his paws. Following Diego, the possums leaped across the rocks. But soon they realized they were in quite a predicament. The rock wall was continuing to rise between them and they quickly realized that their herd was being torn in half.

"Ellie!" Manny cried as the rock wall started to grow between him and her ripping her from his grip.

"Manny!" Ellie called back as they were torn apart from each other and Ellie was hoisted up as part of the cliff started emerging beneath her. She would soon be pushed up high above the rest if they didn't act soon.

"Help me push Ellie to the other side of the cliff before it gets any bigger! Quickly!" Diego yelled to the others on his side above the sound of the Earth trembling.

"Why?" exclaimed the possums and Sid at once.

"Just do it!" he yelled anxiously. The possums, Diego and Sid jumped up on the ledge and pushed against Ellie. Ellie strained to get herself over the rocks emerging beneath her belly. And with the others helping her, she was able to get to the other side enough for Manny to grasp her trunk and pull her over. The other tried to jump over to the other side but now the cliff was growing faster than ever and their attempts to reach the other side became impossible as the cliff became too steep to climb. The possums and Diego continued to try to jump to the other side but soon they ran out of energy and realized that what they were attempting was a frivolous task.

Diego, Sid, and the possums watched in shock and despair as the rock wall continued to grow until it was high above their head and grew to span the length entire distance of the meadow, the forest, and beyond, until the end of it was out of sight. But they only had a few seconds to take in what was happening before Manny shouting back from them from the other side of the every growing rock wall.

"Where are you?" he yelled.

"We're stuck on the other side! We can't get over!" Eddie yelled back above the sound of the earthquake.

"Guys!" Manny yelled from the other side. "The rock wall is getting wider! It's getting hard to hear you!"

"How will we find you?" Crash shouted to Manny.

"We'll meet you on the other side!" Diego replied before the mammoth could respond. "Which direction will you be heading?"

"Ellie and I will head northwest until we find the end of the wall!" Manny shouted.

"North what?" the possums yelled as sound began to get drowned out further.

"Northwest!"

"Northeast?" they asked again, unsure of what Manny had said.

"Straight Northwest!" he shouted louder.

"Got it!" the possums replied just as Manny reply from the other side became too quiet and muffled to hear.

"What did he say?" Diego asked, his voice serious.

"Straight North!" Crash replied.

"So we'll go-" The saber tried to finish his sentence but he was cut off by Sid.

"It's still getting taller!" Sid said nervously.

"And wider!" Crash and Eddie yelled as rock began to appear beneath their feet.

"Ok. We got the information we needed. Now follow me this way so you don't get separated!" Diego yelled above the sound of the still shaking Earth. Diego ran away from the rock wall as fast as he could with Sid on his back and the possums right on his tail. They ran for a long time, dodging incoming saplings along the way. By the time they stopped running, the tremors from the Earth had begun to stop and the rock wall was nothing but a tall silhouette as they looked back toward the horizon.

Crash and Eddie collapsed from exhaustion now that they were far enough away. Diego lay down panting.

"Is it over?" Eddie asked.

"No. Our journey… has just begun." Diego said between breaths.

After a few moments rest, the saber guided the others to a place where a large tree trunk fell. "We can rest under this tree tonight."

"I am so… tired." Sid said yawning. He let his arms almost drag on the ground and his head lean forward as if he couldn't take another step without collapsing.

"But it's not bed time yet. Plus you were riding on my back the whole way." Diego said smirking at the sloth slightly amused.

"But but!" Sid said perking up and raising his hands in protest.

"Oooh! Poor Sid." Crash said grinning. "We're gonna be up for all night."

"Yeah, and we're gonna make you carry us and walk a hundred miles!" Eddie added, laughing.

Sid looked over at Diego desperately. "Are they really gonna make me-"

"They're joking Sid." Diego said mildly glaring at Sid. "Come on, we have to see how much damage the earthquake caused before nightfall." At that, he walked off with the possums and Sid who soon followed.

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End Flashback

(A/N: I included what happened with Diego, Sid, Crash, and Eddie past the point where they split up with Manny and Ellie because I couldn't fit it anywhere else so I hope you don't mind that. Though Manny and Ellie won't know what happened past the point where they were split up just to clarify.)

Manfred's mind slowly came back to the present a chilly evening breeze blew past him. Ellie was looking around the area where some trees had fallen.

"The damage looks pretty bad doesn't it?" Ellie said to her mate. She was examining a large oak tree lying on the ground.

"It is. But it's nothing we can't get past." Manny said though he had doubts. Manny sighed as he took in the extensive damage as well. What the earthquake had done seemed gravely worse than damage the huge meltdown four years back had caused. Not a tree stood. Branches and foliage lay everywhere and there were many cracks in the ground. Areas where rivers and lakes were drained or so full in debris they looked more like a soup than a body of water. Manny's eyes fell upon the forest. Instead of being a maze of tall trees, the pine forest was a labyrinth of green and tree trunks that hid pointy rocks and sharp inclines meaning single wrong step in it could cause serious injury.

Manny looked at the setting sun above them. It was getting late. "Let's go Ellie. We need to find a place to rest for the night." Manny cautiously walked into the fallen forest with Ellie. He knew a lot lay ahead of them. But just who or what lay ahead of them was a mystery, one he would soon find out.

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So how was it? This is my first story in two years. Bad? Good? In between? Personally, I thought it this chapter was ok but it could have been better. Please review and tell me what you thought. Oh, but no flames please.