The storm had also been noticed by the group of migrating animals who had been more than comfortable with the warmer weather of before. The scary thought that this storm could be as bad as the Ice Age of before was in every animals mind yet went unspoken, and had it ever been actually spoken the culprit would probably have been pelted by more than one individual. So, it was without word, yet in complete agreement from all that one by one each family group or herd joined up in the migrating group and trudged on farther south. As the group passed, their foot steps shook a nearby tree. The tree was nearly empty except for one sloth sleeping on it. As the tree rattled to the rhythm of the thundering hoofs, the sloth, Sid, woke up. He rubbed his eyes and watched the migrating herds pass.
"Hm" he said "Where are they going? Oh yeah, the cold blasts that have been coming through..". Sid shrugged "Well I guess it's the end of our good times here" he sighed disappointed, "Oh well, lets get started Junior" he finished. When no response came, Sid looked around him. "Junior!" he called to his little brother. Sid started looking around frantically. He climbed up to the top of the tree and looked around. "Excuse me" he said to a group of armadillos, "Have you seen a little sloth, cutest little kid in the world, looks like this". Here Sid made a baby face. The armadillo's looked shocked at Sid's facial expression then looked at each other. "Yeah, I saw a young sloth" one of them said "but he waddled off with the group hours ago". Sid looked downcast as the armadillos continued their journey.
Oh no! Sid thought. He had been abandoned by his family...again! And here Sid always thought Junior was the one member of his family that did like him! Sid scrambled down the tree desperately. "Please Junior! come back!" he yelled. Hoping that somehow his brother might hear him even though he was miles away. "I promise I won't bath you in tar again" Sid continued.
Sid jumped down off the tree and began to run around frantically trying to find any sign of where Junior might have gone. Suddenly a shadow loomed over Sid and something pounced on him. "Go on!" Sid yelled "Eat me! I have nothing left to live for!". A quiet chuckle was the sloth's only reply. Sid glanced at what had pounced him and found-- "Diego!" Sid yelled, he sighed as Diego got off of him and let him stand up. "You are too easy!" the tiger commented.
The two possum brother, Eddie and Crash, were quick to rush over. Mainly because any event where Diego was pouncing someone other than them was a welcome occurrence, as was any event where Sid got scared or slightly (but not too severely) hurt. "Oh wow! You got him good!" Crash exclaimed,. "Yeah" Eddie was quick to agree, "Wow Sid, you really are gonna get eaten one of these days asking for it like that!".
Sid pretty much ignored the possums and looked annoyed at Diego, "Well, I'm glad you had your little fun, but we have a crisis here! Where's Manny?" Diego shrugged, "I haven't seen either him or Ellie this morning. He they must have gotten up early or something." he said. Sid sighed.
Just then a commotion was heard from the migrating animals. "Not again!" someone yelled. Diego and Sid looked over at the migrating group and saw a wooly mammoth walking the opposite way through them. "Manny! There you are!" Sid yelled. Manny didn't seem to hear them, he continued walking through the group. "I will not put up with this again!" someone yelled. Manny looked down and noticed the same pig-like thing that had yelled at him before all those many years ago. "You again, huh?" he said, slightly annoyed. "Yeah" the pig thing yelled "and you still need to move your issues off the road!".
Manny bent down slightly to stare the creature straight in the eye. The pig thing looked slightly shocked finding himself staring eye to eye with a mammoth and being between two huge tusks. "Look" Manny said annoyed "You may have a family, despite being so overjoyed when your mate fell off that ice cliff" he added, looking like that occurrence annoyed him more than he already was, "but if you say one more rude remark I promise I will hurt you!".
"Whoa, whoa, hold up there traffic cop!" a female mammoth's voice rang out and soon Ellie herself came over to the scene. She looked amused yet stern as she just fixed Manny with a stare. There was something about that stare, it always broke down Manny's defenses and could make him feel guilty over even the smallest little thing. Manny backed up a bit from the pig thing and smiled sheepishly, "I...I was just".
Ellie waved her trunk, "I don't even want to know". She turned her gaze back down to the pig thing, "You can go on ahead, and I'm sorry that the gentlemamooth here had to be so extremely rude to you". The pig thing looked satisfied, yet in a gloating sort of way, and strutted past with his nose held high. Manny sighed as that creature and the other migrating animals made their way past. "Ellie" he groaned frustrated that she had had to interrupt, "You haven't bumped into that guy like I have before, he's a real...".
"Uh, uh, uh!" Ellie cut Manny off with another wave of her trunk before he could say the word, "We don't want the children here picking up any bad words" she added, indicating with her trunk to where Sid, Crash and Eddie were nearby. They had started a habit of using the term "the children" whenever referring to Sid, Crash or Eddie's bad and or immature qualities. Ironically young Junior himself was so...not like those three that even despite his young age he escaped these references.
"Guys we have an emergency!" Sid screamed as he rushed up. "Junior, ran away". "That's actually not a surprise" Manny said. Ellie slapped him lightly with her trunk to let him know that that was an insensitive statement. "What I was kidding!" Manny argued.
Sid stopped pouting and looked determined. "But, it was an accident. Junior just got lost and probably misses me terribly and I must be brave in order to get back to him!". Manny and Diego looked at each other. "He still lives in his little fantasy world" Diego said. Manny nodded. "So, when do we head out?' Sid asked. "Head our where?" Diego asked.
"Head out to find Junior!" Sid exclaimed. "Oh" 'Diego said, uninterested, "We don't". "What!" Sid screamed. Ellie frowned, "Now really..." she began. Diego interrupted though as he turned back to face Sid, "The way I see it, Junior has abandoned you just like the rest of your family did years ago. So, just forget about him". "You say that so sympathetically" Manny commented. Diego grinned, "It's just a talent of mine!". Ellie just rolled her eyes at the guys' behavior
"But we can't just forget about him!" Sid cried. "I should say not!" Ellie agreed, giving both Diego and Manny a look like they should be ashamed of themselves, "Why I know that if either of my brother's here got lost I wouldn't rest until I found them!" she continued, indicating Crash and Eddie. The two possum's looked touched.
Manny sighed, 'Oh alright, if Sid'll just stop complaining, we'll try to find Junior". Sid grinned widely and leapt on Manny's trunk, "Oh thank you!" he cried. Manny shook Sid off of him.
Sid hit the ground but then leapt back up again. "I was sitting on something!" he said. "Yes" Diego said as if he were talking to a baby "It's called snow". Sid looked insulted. "Not that!" he said. "Something under the snow". Sid walked over and started digging in the spot he had been sitting on. Manny, Diego, Ellie, Crash and Eddie all watched interested. Soon Sid had uncovered something. "Ahhhh!" he screamed as he ran behind Manny.
"What is it?' Manny asked. Sid pointed. "D--D--Dead" he stuttered. Diego and Manny walked up and investigated whatever it was that had frightened Sid. They looked shocked. There in the snow was the skeleton of a Saber Tooth Tiger with a spear through it's ribs. Crash and Eddie themselves now looked scared and darted behind Ellie. Manny sighed and Diego shook his head. "Humans" they said. Ellie just looked sympathetic but didn't say anything. Sid was still staring at the skeleton bug eyed.
Diego soon noticed something about the spear though. "Wait a minute" he said. "There are teeth marks on the end, like some other tiger tried to pull it out and--" Diego gasped and stepped back. "What is it" Manny asked. "Those are Soto's teeth marks!" Diego whispered. "Soto?" Sid asked, "Isn't that the mean tiger that tried to kill us". Diego nodded. "He was the leader" he said.
Diego then glanced around the landscape and his eyes narrowed. "This is where it happened" he said. "What do you mean?" Manny asked. "This is where those humans slaughtered half our pack" Diego snarled.
He raised his paw and swiped the spear away from the skeleton in anger, cutting his paw in the process. Sid rushed over to where Diego was and started putting snow on his paw. "There we go buddy" he said. "All better". Diego looked at his friend but didn't say anything.
Manny walked up. "It was the baby's herd, wasn't it" he said. Diego nodded, "His father mainly, that's why Soto wanted revenge on him". Manny sighed. The baby should be around 8 or 9 years old by now, and the mammoth wondered if his herd had corrupted him yet.
Manny glanced up and noticed a strong wind was approaching. He squinted towards the horizon. "We have to move south again" he said. Diego and Sid looked at him. "Again?" Sid said, "But we are south". Manny sighed "We have to go FARTHER south" he said. "The freezing storm will catch up with us here". Manny then smiled as he added "Change of seasons, migration instincts--any of this ringing a bell?". Sid crossed his arms as Manny teased him with the words that he had said to him when they first met. "Sarcasm is not appreciated!" he said.
"Your just cranky because Junior deserted you" Diego said, standing up and putting his painful memory behind him.
"Junior did not desert me!" Sid shouted. "He ran away and is horribly lost without me". Diego sighed. "Poor sloth's in denial" he said to Manny. "let him live with his denial" Manny said. "He'll be crushed enough when we find his brother and he tells him to scram." "Oh, that'll be lovely!" Diego said. Ellie sighed, "Well if you boys are gonna put such a negative spin on it, I dare say poor Sid will be crushed. Let's all just try and stay positive and cross that bridge when and if we get there".
As Manny and Diego just sighed at this unrealistic, hopeful optimist view and the group started on their journey, Sid was still mumbling to himself about how much Junior needed him. "And I will pull him out of his misery by appearing right when he has given up hope!" he said.
"Come on" Manny said. "were moving south, or have you forgotten already?". Sid snapped to attention, "Coming" he yelled as he ran after the group. "Hey Manny, can I get a ride?" Sid asked. "No!" Manny said. "Please" Sid asked. "No!" Manny said. "Oh, pretty please!". "Sid!" Diego and Manny yelled. "Alright alright!" Sid said. Then after a moments silence. "Can I get one later?".
The storm continued to roar after this second group traveling away from it.