CHAPTER 1

THE HERD

NOTE: OKAY, I KNOW THE FIFTH INSTALLMENT OF ICE AGE JUST CAME OUT, BUT I HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET. THIS IS MY OWN VERSION OF AFTER THE CONTINENTAL DRIFT. REPEAT, THIS IS BASED AFTER THE FOURTH INSTALLMENT. ALSO, I DO NOT OWN THE CHARACTERS OF ICE AGE AND NINJAGO. THEY ARE OWN BY THEIR CREATORS. ANY OC'S ADDED IN HERE ARE OWNED BY ME. NOW BACK TO THE STORY.

The Ice Age. A place filled with freezing temperatures below zero. It isn't easy for humans to live in such a world unless they grow used to it, but it isn't a problem for animals. Especially prehistoric mammals from thousands of years ago. This world is filled with animals after going through so many disasters that they have now finally resided in a place they can call home. There is one group of animals everyone knows well and has grown fond of, mainly because they are some of the greatest heroes of their time.

After escaping from a great flood, journeying though a prehistoric dinosaur land underground to save a dear friend, and escaping one of the most natural catastrophe of all times, the herd has decided to live in peace on their new home in Switchback Cove.

Right now, the herd is inside a cave on their second night living on the island resting after another long day. They were spending the night happily as a herd. Manny and Ellie were sitting together as Peaches was sitting next to her friend Louis the molehog. Sid the sloth was sitting next to his grandmother, Granny, who was eating a mango with her brand new set of teeth. Diego was sitting next to Shira, a new saber that became part of the herd and Diego's love interest. Although he hasn't told her that yet, little did he know that Shira actually feels the same way about him.

At that moment, Crash and Eddie were telling a story about one of their crazy extreme stunts. This time, they were talking about the time when they were about to go over a waterfall after another one of their log races.

"There we were, riding down the river, thinking that we were done for," Crash said, "The closer we got to the waterfall, the closer we were to our doom."

"Luckily, this guy here had a plan," Eddie said, "And if you're wondering who I'm talking about, I have literally mentioned yours truly."

"You better not be talking about yourself. It was me to came up with that plan."

"No, it wasn't. I came up with the plan of holding onto the tree branch and slinging us into the middle of nowhere."

"Thanks a lot, Eddie. You just ruined the ending."

"That wasn't even the ending. We were so far from home that we had to spend the night on the exact branch that we were hanging onto. Then we went back home afterwards."

"Thanks a lot, once again. You just ruined us telling the greatest story ever."

"You know, I have to be honest with you guys," Shira said, "You both are horrible at telling stories, but I will tell you one positive thing."

"What?" the possum brothers asked.

"You both make them sound hilarious."

"She's got a point," Diego said.

"Well, if you're so interested in funny story, why don't you tell a story that was funny about your life?" Crash said.

"Yeah," Eddie said.

Shira's eyes widened. Nobody had ever asked her that before. There were many things she could tell. She could tell about fictional pirate stories or things about her life as a pirate, but if there was one thing she couldn't talk about was her past. She turned her head away from the others as she was too embarrassed to even look at them.

Ellie became concerned for her female companion. "Shira, are you okay?"

Shira didn't look her in the eyes as she said, "Yeah...Yeah, I'm okay. Nothing to worry about."

"Sweetheart, when you don't look me in the eye's, I know something's up. Tell us what's wrong."

Diego placed a paw on her shoulder. "Shira?"

Shira stood up, keeping her head down and not looking anyone in the eye. She stood there, looking at a small puddle of water on the ground as she saw her reflection change before her very eyes. "I think it's time you guys knew the truth about my past. I was born as the only striped saber in the litter. My mother had stripes, just like me. I became known to them as a beautiful sabress. Everyone loved me, including the leader of my pack. There was one person that couldn't stand me, though, and that include the color of my fur."

"Who was he?" Peaches asked.

"His name was Roberto," Shira continued, "He was the leader's oldest son, destined to rule the pack once his father was ready to step down from his position. When I was a cub, I tried to be friends with him. Really, I did, but he always shunned me away like I was dust in the wind. My childhood was like any normal one. I had lots of friends. I had my mother, my father, my three sisters and two brothers. We were the perfect family. My father taught me the ways of being a saber and my mother taught me how to hunt. Then the teenage years came around. I became the most popular saber in the pack…and the prettiest, too."

"So why did this Roberto saber hate you so much?" Granny asked.

"Granny, it's not polite to ask questions like that," Sid said.

Granny knocked Sid in the head with her cane. "I can ask whatever question I want, Sidney."

"It's fine, Sid," Shira said, "Anyway, there was a reason Roberto couldn't stand me. Well, two reasons. One was because I was always the most important one in the pack and the others treated him like a nobody. Another reason was that he always told me that my fur color was bad luck. A curse upon everybody that was around me."

"This doesn't sound like a funny story to me," Eddie told Crash.

"Eddie," Ellie said sternly, looking back at Shira, "Continue, Shira."

"Thank you," Shira said, "Anyway, one night we were having a festival and all the young teenage sabers had to dance with a guy that was like a best friend to them. I will say this. I never knew that Roberto hated me for so long until the moment I asked him to dance with me. When he said no, I asked why. This is what he told me. 'You are nothing but a curse upon this pack. You are nothing to me. You've taken the spotlight for yourself and nobody ever cared about me because they were so concerned about you. Your fur doesn't make you beautiful. It makes you bad luck on everyone here. That's right. Bad luck. That's all I'll ever think of you. I hate you with a passion. Think about that next time you ask me something.' To this day, I still remember that."

"That's horrible," Sid said.

"I know, but it was actually true when one day, disaster struck in the pack. Humans invaded our home. They killed half the pack, including my oldest brother, Pablo. Pedro did all he could to protect me and that led to him getting hurt. He was fine after a couple of weeks. I lost my grandfather, too. It was heartbreaking, but that wasn't all we lost."

"What else did the pack lose?" Manny asked.

Shira was on the verge of tears as she said, "Our leader. He died right in front of us. Roberto was furious to see his father dead, but he was also glad."

"Who would be glad that their own father is dead?"

"Somebody that was about to become the leader of the pack."

"Now that's just ridiculous."

"Manny, let Shira finish," Ellie said.

"I'm almost done," Shira said.

"What happened next, dear?"

"Well, Roberto stood upon the rock where his father once stood. He told everyone that I was a curse and it was my fault that the humans came and attacked us. He said that I was nothing but had luck because of my fit color and for the fact that everyone cared for me more than him. He banished me from the pack. They all tried to reason with him, but Roberto wouldn't listen. I was sent away, never to return."

"That's awful," Peaches said.

"Yes, it was," Shira said. Tears fell from her eyes as she turned away from the others. "I shouldn't have told you guys. I believe that I'm just bad luck to everyone I'm around."

"That's not true," Diego said, walking up to the female saber, "You are not bad luck."

"I...I...I think I need some fresh air." With tears falling from her eyes, Shira walked out of the cave.

Diego was about to go to her, but when Ellie placed her trunk on his shoulder, he knew that all Shira needed was time to herself and of she needed anything, she would talk about it when she was ready. For now, all she needed was some time alone.

AWWW! SHIRA HAD SUCH A SAD LIFE. I WILL SAY THAT SHE IS MY FAVORITE ALL TIME ICE AGE CHARACTER. WELL, DIEGO IS, TOO, BUT YOU GET THE POINT.

WELL, HERE IT IS. I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS CHAPTER. PLENTY MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM.

PLEASE REVIEW.