Author's Note: Here's the first Chapter of my first long story. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope I got everyone's personality pretty close to being right! So, please review, and let me know what you think. Nothing mean though please! Thanks :D

Chapter One

Early Morning Spy

Just as Shira was about to roll over for another hour of sleep, she saw Diego get up and walk toward the forest. Hmmm…she thought where could he be going? It's got to be only about 6:00 in the morning. Shira got up and was wondering where he could have gone, when her train of thought was interrupted by her friend Ellie.

"Shira, what are you doing awake? It's so early." Ellie asked.

"Oh," Shira said surprised. "I was just about to go back to sleep, when I saw Diego get up and head toward the woods. I was wondering where he's going."

"Oh, don't worry about him; he goes for a run every morning about this time. He says he can't become too soft. But, that's already happened, so I think he just likes to keep in shape." Ellie said with a chuckle.

Shira grinned. "Yeah, that happened a long time ago. I think I'm going to go follow him and see where he goes. Whenever we race, I normally win, so I should be able to catch him, and ask what he's up to."

"Ok," Ellie replied. "Be careful though, there's no telling where he could have gone."

Shira rolled her eyes. "Of course I'll be careful, but I really don't think anything in the forest could compare to those crazies on the pirate ship."
"You're right." Ellie said. "But still there's no telling what Diego's up to so just keep that in mind."

"I will." Shira said as she turned and ran off into the woods.

As Shira ran through the woods, she could feel the nice cool breeze in her fur, and hear the birds singing. She saw many animals that had been on the ship that had taken them here. The only one she didn't see was Diego. No worries. She thought. I'll catch up to him in no time. Sure enough she did. When she caught up to him, he was saying hello to some of the other mammoths. But just as she was starting to get close, he said goodbye, and started to run again. Shira really wanted to know where he went every morning, so she picked up the pace and continued to follow him.

After another ten minutes, Shira was still the same distance behind Diego. She could see him, but she just wasn't getting any closer. She wondered why she wasn't getting any closer, but just assumed that she really was, and she just didn't realize it.

Shira began to think about her new herd mates and she ran. There was Manny the biggest of them all, but he was nothing to be afraid of once you knew him and got past those tusks. Then there were Ellie and Peaches; Manny's wife and daughter. Ellie was always looking out for everyone. She was also a little odd because she had two possums for brothers, and liked to sleep in trees, hanging upside down. Peaches was a teenager, and of course, boy crazy.

Peaches had learned that she shouldn't change herself to impress a boy though. Now she and Ethan were getting along great, and Shira could see that there was something more than friendship between them.

Also, there was Louis; Peaches' friend the mole hog. He was a very interesting fellow, who seemed to almost like Peaches as more than a friend, though Shira didn't really want to think that through, because it just made her mind spin in circles. Then there were the possums; Crash and Eddie. They were both extremely wild, and it never ceased to amaze her how they haven't died yet. Sid was another story. He was just plain wacko. He and his grandma, commonly known as Granny among the bunch, were two sloths who were abandoned by their family. Sid was quite an oddball and constantly made Diego necklaces, that actually looked pretty good on him, but she won't tell him that. Granny was kind of everyone's crazy old grandma. She loved to ride on their backs, and if you annoyed her, she'd whack you with her cane.

Then there was Diego. He was basically the reason she was here right now. If he'd never convinced her to come with them, and him, as he'd put it, she would still be stuck on that awful ship with Gutth. She was so thankful to him to be here with her new friends, and well, of course, him mostly, but she's not going to tell him that. That would just give his ego too much of a boost.

Since Shira was deep in thought, she hadn't realized how far she'd come, and now they were just about to the waterfall. Diego was still a little bit ahead of her, but she could tell he was about to stop. But then, something weird happened. Instead of stopping Diego turned around and started running back, straight toward where Shira was.

Shira quickly jumped in a bush. She did not what Diego to see her, and think that she was following him; even though she was. That might give him the wrong idea. As soon as Diego ran past her, she got up, and started following him once again.

When Diego arrived back, everyone was just starting to wake up. He didn't see Shira, but just assumed she had gone out hunting.

"Hey Manny." Diego said, walking over to the mammoth.

Manny turned around. "Yeah?"

"I just wanted to let you know I'm going to the lake to wash off after my run, so that you didn't think I got eaten by dinosaur or something." Diego said with a smile.

"Ha, thanks." Manny said. "Yeah, Sid probably would have thought that."

Diego smiled and walked off toward the lake.

Once Shira arrived back, everyone was awake and eating breakfast. She walked over to Ellie.

"Hey Ellie."

"Yeah Shira, what is it?" Asked Ellie.

"Well, I followed Diego," Shira explained in a quiet tone. "And he went all the way down to the waterfall and back. I followed him the entire way, but I couldn't catch up! I don't know why, I mean, I always beat him when we race. It just doesn't make any sense."

Ellie looked at her. "Actually, it kind of does."

"What do you mean?" Shira asked.

"I think when you race; he might be letting you win." Ellie replied.

"Why would he do that?" Shira asked with a snort.

Ellie just smiled at her and went back to eating.

Hmmm…why would he do that? Shira thought.

Hmmm…why would he be doing that huh? I guess you'll just have to wait and see! Or guess, if you already know…Chapter two will be up soon.