I don't own Ice Age or any of the characters. I only own this story and the characters not in the story. In this story animals age at the same rate as humans.

Far over the Eastern mountains in a valley their lived a clan of ancient humans, a pride of Saber-toothed cats and a pack of dire wolves. Though these three top predators would normally be enemies here, in the valley, they were allies and friends.

The leaders of the human clan were Chief Desna and his wife Ahnah. Desna was a tall, muscled man, with messy short black hair, black eyes, a clean shaved face, and in his fortieth year of life. His wife, Ahnah, was a beautiful tall woman with long black hair, dark brown eyes, and was the same age as her husband.

They were close friend with the leader of the leader of the Saber pride, Strongclaw. Strongclaw was a muscled Saber that was ten feet long, five feet at the shoulder, and his brown fur covered in old scars from countless battle trying to stay at the top of his pride. His fangs were twelve inches long and his right fang was missing three inches. He was the same age as his human friends.

Chief Desna, Ahnah and Strongclaw were also best friends with the dire wolf pack leaders, Ahlf and his mate Lupa. Ahlf was a strong wolf with dark gray fur with some red in his coat and the male dire wolf had blood red eyes. Lupa, the alpha female of her pack, was a beautiful black furred wolf with crystal blue eyes. Both the dire wolf pack leaders were forty.

A young man awoke in the chief's tent. The boy was the chief's eldest son Kaskae the future chief of the clan. Kaskae had his father's messy black hair, his mother's dark brown eyes, was muscled from years of training to be chief and possessed a scar along his jaw line from a training accident.

Kaskae quickly put on a long sleeved shirt, warm pants, thick boots and a hoodless cloak. After getting dressed Kaskae grabbed his strongest spear and exited his family's tent. Kaskae spied his parents, younger brother and two younger sisters in a second.

Chief Desna and Ahnah dressed in fine white clothing and decorated white cloaks. Kaskae's younger brother was a twelve year old boy named Maniitok. Maniitok had shoulder length black hair, dressed in loss fitting clothes, and was extremely muscled for a boy his age.

Kaskae's two sisters, Miki and Nini, were identical seven year old twins. The two sisters looked and dressed the same. The only way to tell the difference between the two was that Miki always had her waist length black hair in a ponytail and Nini kept her hair shoulder length and free flowing.

Miki and Nini ran to their big brother. Kaskae bent down and ruffed both his sister's hair. Maniitok stepped forward to his older brother, spear in hand.

"I am going on the hunt with you brother." declared Maniitok.

Kaskae stood and looked his younger brother in the eye.

"You have just begun to learn how to hunt my brother. You are too young to go hunting with me. Perhaps when you are older but for now you must stay in the village." reasoned Kaskae.

Maniitok frowned and looked away from his brother. Desna walked forward and put a hand on his son's shoulder.

"You have turned into a great warrior my son and you will be an even greater chief. Your mother and I have something for you." told Desna.

Desna reached inside his shirt and took a necklace off from around his neck. The chief then placed the necklace around his son's neck. Kaskae looked at the necklace. The necklace had black feathers, colourful beads and shells and a bear claw attacked to it.

"You're giving me your necklace father!" gasped Kaskae.

Ahnah went to the side of her husband. The chief's wife held an identical necklace to the one her son wore in her hand.

"No we are giving you your father's great-grandparent's necklaces. You now wear your father's necklace. And this necklace is for Yakone." stated Ahnah.

Kaskae madly blushed at the mention of his best friend's name. Miki and Nini quietly laughed at their oldest brother's face turning red. Maniitok sinisterly grinned and gave out an evil chuckle.

"Yes give the necklace to Yakone, your soul mate, your one true love, the female that stole your heart and brought you back to life after a life of death." joked Maniitok.

Kaskae knew better than to give into his brother's jokes. Instead he turned the tables in his favor. The young warrior took the necklace from his mother.

"I will gladly give the necklace to Yakone mother. Perhaps you can make one for Maniitok to give to Otsana." teased Kaskae.

Maniitok froze and blushed redder than if he had a sun burn. The hunter-in-training turned his back from his family as his face got even redder (if that was possible). Miki and Nini looked at their mother.

"When can we get a necklace mommy?" asked Nini.

"Yes a necklace and one to give to someone? When can we get then mom?" wondered Miki.

Ahnah smiled and looked at her daughters.

"I'm afraid you won't get your necklaces for many years my daughters. But I could make one for Maniitok so he can give it to Otsana as a promise." offered Ahnah.

Terror stricken with embarrassment, Maniitok turned around and looked at his mother. The young hunter had a look of shock and horror on his face.

"Please don't do that mom. Otsana is already clinging to me like a hunter clings to his weapon in battle. If I give her a necklace I will never have any peace. Please don't make me give Otsana a necklace, please mother." begged Maniitok.

Everyone laughed at Maniitok. Desna got control of himself and got his family's attention.

"That is enough out of all of us. Now Kaskae you should be leaving if you are going to meet you friends on time. Ahnah we must leave before sunhigh if we are to meet with Strongclaw, Ahlf and Lupa on time. Maniitok I expect you to watch over Miki and Nini until we get back. And Otsana should be coming over later today and I expect you to treat her with the proper respect." explained Desna.

Maniitok sighed and promised to watch over his sisters and show Otsana the proper respect when she came to the village. With that everyone got prepared for what they had to do.

The chief and his wife left to go meet with the other leaders. Maniitok took Miki and Nini to listen to stories told by some of the elders. And Kaskae went off to meet with his two best friends.

The people of Kaskae's clan were able to understand animals so it wasn't uncommon for a human, Saber or a dire wolf to be seen hunting and training together or their young playing under the watch of adults of all three species.

Kaskae's two best (and only) friends were a female Saber named Yakone and a male wolf named Bertulf.

Yakone was a beautiful slender, but well muscled, young She-Saber. He fur was a lovely light tan (which she inherited from her mother) and she had the most stunning ebony black eyes, the same coloured eyes as her father.

Bertulf was a well muscled and trained wolf. His fur was jet-black with red tips and his eyes were blood red. Bertulf had a few nicks in his ears and a scar over his left eye.

All three had been friends since they were in the womb. In fact they were only born a few days within each other. They had all just recently celebrated their eighteenth birthdays and enjoyed their first year of becoming adults.

Kaskae was supposed to meet his friends in their secret hideout. The hideout was a clearing near a waterfall with a cave hidden behind the waterfall. The three friends had found the place years ago and now met there when ever they wanted to meet with each other.

Bertulf let out a low growl. Yakone looked at her dire wolf friend. The two were waiting for their human friend in the cave behind the waterfall.

"He should have been here by now." impatiently said Bertulf.

"He'll be here Bertulf. Just have a little patience. The elders of your pack are right you have absolutely no patience. How are you supposed to become the next alpha of your pack if you don't have any patience, Bertulf?" snapped Yakone.

Bertulf growled at his feline friend. The black wolf was letting his short temper get the better of him again.

"I know I'm going to be the next leader of my pack, Yakone. My parents are Ahlf and Lupa, the greatest heroes my pack has ever known. I know the expectations I have to live up to. So you don't have to remind me about my short temper and lack of patience ever five second." growled Bertulf.

Yakone went to Bertulf's side. The young Saber gently nuzzled her friend's neck.

"I know how you feel Bertulf. Don't forget my father is Strongclaw, the current leader of the Saber-tooth pride. He's also one of the greatest heroes known to my pride and all the species, the same as your parents and Kaskae's parents. We all have a lot to live up to with such famous parents and being the future leaders of our people." explained Yakone.

Bertulf smiled at Yakone. It didn't matter what happened in the future or who their parents, he would always have someone to turn two with Yakone and Kaskae around. The same was true with Bertulf with his friends. No matter what happened, the three of them would always be there for each other.

Kaskae finally made it to the cave. Bertulf stood and walked to his so called friend.

"Were where you. You were supposed to be here over half an hour ago." reminded Bertulf.

"I'm sorry alright. I had a little problem with my family. They wouldn't let me leave until they gave me their necklaces and I had to convince my little brother to stay behind in the village and not follow after me like he did last time." exclaimed Kaskae.

Yakone's ears perked up when she heard Kaskae mention something about necklaces. The Saber-tooth walked over to her friend, a look of curiosity on her face.

"Kaskae you mentioned something about your parents not letting you leave until they gave you their necklaces. What do you mean by that?" wondered Yakone.

Kaskae blushed again and looked at the ground. The future chief rubbed the back of his neck and kicked his boot against the ground.

"My parents gave me their promise necklaces. One was for me and the other is for you, Yakone." stuttered Kaskae.

Kaskae pulled a necklace identical to the one he wore out of his shirt. Yakone smiled and became exited like a cub going on their first hunt. The Saber let her human lover put the necklace around her neck. Yakone smiled at Kaskae then looked back to Bertulf.

"So how do I look Bertulf?" asked Yakone.

"You look just the same as before just with a necklace. Can we hurry up and get going. The caribou herd should be passing through the valley in a matter of hours and we haven't even begun the journey to the pass. If we don't leave know it will take us until nightfall to get back to our families." snarled Bertulf.

Kaskae looked at his black wolf friend.

"The caribou will be in the valley for five whole days, Bertulf. I know hunting them at the pass is the best opportunity for catching young bucks and does, but we can catch older caribou once they enter the valley. Besides this is an important moment in my life. It has already been declared that Yakone and I are to marry in two weeks, but giving her the necklace means I am asking her to marry me even if the wedding has already been planned for the past three months." stated Kaskae.

Yakone decided to jump into the conversation and help defend her future mate.

"The mating of Kaskae and I will bring our people closer together and prove that human and Sabers can live together in peace." assured Yakone.

Bertulf grew madder by the second. Kaskae decided to have a little fun with his wolf friend.

"And my mother has even offered to make Maniitok a necklace he can give to your sister, Otsana, as a promise. So they can marry once they come of age." joked Kaskae.

Bertulf was no longer mad at his human friend he was downright furious. Bertulf temper was so hot he could have melted the sun. Kaskae tried to get his wolf friend to calm down.

"Relax Bertulf. I was just joking. Besides it is obvious to everyone that your sister and my brother like each other, even if Maniitok denies his feelings and Otsana follows him around like a lost pup looking for its mother. If you don't calm down soon Bertulf I swear smoke is going to come out of your ears since your temper will be hotter than the sun on fire." reasoned Kaskae.

Bertulf took several deep breaths before he spoke again.

"Let's just go to the pass and get this hunt over with. All I want to do is go back to my den and take a long nap away from anyone who could annoy, bother, or in any way disturb me." growled Bertulf.

The three friends left the waterfall cave and headed to the mountain pass. In under an hour the human warrior, Saber huntress and wolf hunter made it to the mountain pass. Large round tracks were in the snow going straight through the pass. Kaskae looked at the tracks.

"What is it Kaskae? What animal could made tracks this big?" asked Yakone.

"I don't know how this is possible but I think these tracks were made by a mammoth." answered Kaskae.

Yakone and Bertulf were completely shocked.

"How could those possibly be mammoth tracks? There hasn't been a single mammoth in this area for well over eighty years." reminded Bertulf.

Kaskae frowned and looked at Bertulf.

"Well what else could make tracks this big!" shouted Kaskae.

Kaskae and Bertulf began to get into another fight. Yakone ignored her two friends squabble and looked at the tracks more carefully. Sure enough they were mammoth tracks, two adults and a baby, but there were also the tracks of a Saber-tooth.

"Guys will you stop fighting for two seconds and look at this. I think I found the tracks of a Saber and it looks like they lead strait after the mammoths." told Yakone.

The two males both gasped and looked at the tracks their female friend found. The tracks defiantly belonged to a Saber and it was defiantly not from Yakone's pride. Beside the three future leaders, no one of any of the species had been near the pass all day. Kaskae grabbed his spear and began to walk in the direction the tracks went.

"And where do you think you're going?" grumbled Bertulf.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm following the tracks." replied Kaskae.

"But what about the caribou?" reminded Bertulf.

"Forget about the caribou. The other hunters can catch them when they leave the pass. There are mammoths in the valley for the first time in eighty years. Think of what all our people could do with two full grown mammoths. We could feast for months and still have enough meat to last the winter." declared Kaskae.

Yakone went to Kaskae's side.

"I agree with Kaskae on this one Bertulf. Taking down just one of those mammoths would make us as great a legend as our parents. And there is that Saber we have to deal with. By the tracks it's just one. He's probably a rough, following these mammoths to try and take one down. A rough means trouble for all the species if we don't take care of him fast." stated Yakone.

Bertulf could only agree with both his friends' logic. So he had no choice but to go along with them. The three young friends fallowed after the tracks and possibly the greatest adventure of their lives.

So what do you think? The characters from the movie will show up in the next chapter. Comment if you like the story and don't forget to comment on my other stories as well.