Disclaimer: As you know I do not own Ice Age.

This chapter contains some suggestive language but other than that, it's pretty mild. Enjoy!

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It was a clear, bright morning. The sun's rays bounced off the animal's coats giving them an odd shine as they absorbed the heat. Diego yawned widely. He had a feeling it would be a better day and he noted that his injuries were beginning to heal. The saber stretched, taking in all of the new day's radiance he could.

Diego slowly lifted his nose to sniff the air. But something was not quite right. He did not smell Sid anywhere. Last night, when he had introduced Sassy to the rest he had been missing. Crash had told the saber that Sid was sleeping with a lady friend of his for the night but with the annoying sloth's reputation, that seemed highly unlikely. Diego shook his head. He was sure it had gone badly. The saber reluctantly lay down again and waited for his friend's return.

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Yawning, Sid waddled along slowly and clumsily through the forest to his herd. He had failed to find a mate again. The night at the female sloth's place had gone horribly wrong and he was beginning to wonder if he'd ever find anyone who liked him. Sid looked down sadly but something new caught his eye. A female saber was sleeping near the area where Diego and the possums were. He rushed to the female's side, any worries forgotten.

"Hello." Sid said eyeing her with a goofy grin on his face. "What do we have here?" he said to himself as he stepped closer to her. She had her one of her paws on her face as she slept so Sid could not get a good look at her. With a grunt, Sid lifted her paw (with her leg) up but it was too heavy for the sloth to hold up for long. It dropped out of the sloth's paws with a thud.

"Boy, I never thought their legs were so heavy." he panted. But when Sid let go of her leg, the saber, Sassy, began to wake up. She shifted slightly and she sniffed the morning air through half lidded eyes.

"Darn. Is it morning already-" She stopped talking and stood up abruptly, nostrils flaring. She had caught the pungent aroma of Sid. She was about to walk over to him to say how awful he smelled but suddenly her eyes closed for a moment. Her mind filled with feelings of romance and lust as she went into a strange statet.

"Yep. It is morning." Sid replied, picking at the claws on his hind feet. He was oblivious to the transformation that had take place in Sassy or really who he was talking to.

"Morning is sooo the right time." Sassy replied in a seductive voice as her trance took full effect earning her a wary glance from the sloth. Sid turned around to see who the strange voice belonged to.

"Oh, it's you. I thought you were still sleeping." he said hesitantly.

"No, I'm just beginning my luxurious stroll of love." The saber said in a hypnotic tone "The name's Sassy!" she said grinning.

"Uh hi. I'm Sid." the sloth answered nervously and taken aback by the saber's strange behavior. But his feeling of discomfort didn't last for long. A marvelous idea popped into his head. "You know. I could go on that stroll with you… the stroll of love… if there's gonna be any female sloths there."

Sassy smiled as she rubbed against Sid who bit his lip in discomfort. "Ohhhh. I'd love to take you on and stroll and-"

"Sid!" shouted Diego from behind a bush where he had slept. He had found Sid this morning alright. He had already heard some strange voice accompanied by Sid's and he wondered what in the world was going on. He feared the voice he had just listened ti was from the female sloth Sid had supposedly spent the night with. If that was the case, he needed to get between her and Sid and break them up FAST!

"What are you doing?" he asked his friend as he walked into view. But his question was soon answered. Someone was certainly doing something and it was not Sid. Sassy was circling Sid with hypnotizing eyes and a seductive smile as she ushered random nonsense to Sid about love.

Diego went around and tapped Sassy on the shoulder hoping she hadn't completely lost it. "Sassy, what the heck are you up to? Did Sid talk you into doing this?" he asked her, clearly irritated.

But instead of giving him an answer that made sense, she addressed Diego in the same way she had addressed Sid. "You are sooo the one I wanna just bed down and do it with you right now!" she said dramatically as she rubbed against him. Diego stood there in disgust as he thought about what to do next and make Sassy stop acting so inappropriately. The male saber sighed. He had come up with something but it was extremely embarrassing for him to say in public. Diego took a deep breath and tried it. "Can you leave Sid and I alone for a bit?" he asked the crazy sabress, trying to keep his voice from shaking.

"Sure. I'll be back in a few and then we'll sooo do it and be ma-" Sassy walked away as she ushered these last words but it was to a fallen tree, not Diego. She was cut off by two familiar screams. Apparently Sassy had said this to the two possums, Crash and Eddie.

"Who are you?" Eddie said, looking up at Sassy who had just scared the living daylights out of him with her wake-up call.

"It's Sassy bro. I think she's lost it." Crash answered looking at her seductive grin and eyes that were a bit hazy. Crash examined her from head to toe. She still had quite a few wounds and bruises from Sheba and she should have theoretically still been weak from blood loss but she didn't seem it in the least nor did she seem to be in pain. "Hey bro! I think whatever happened to her makes her immune to injury or something. Look at the size of the wound one her leg. She's not even crouching down the slightest in pain!"

They suddenly heard a voice from the thicket they were in. "Crash! Eddie!"

The twins ran up to the irritated male saber. "Yeah... what?" Eddie asked.

"Or is it about how Sassy went totally berserk?" Crash asked.

Diego disregarded the Crash's comment. "Listen, something happened to Sassy overnight and I don't know what but she is acting very strange. And by the looks of it, she seems to want to follow us. So we'd better get out of here while she's distracted." The saber pointed to Sassy who was rubbing against a flower and muttering nonsense. "Let's go."

The possums nodded and left the female as Diego and Sid did.

But they weren't traveling for long before Sid spoke up.

"You know Diego. I think you really like Sassy."

"I don't. She has some kind of mental problem." Diego said, barely turning to answer the sloth.

"But I think you two would make a really good couple. Maybe if you spend more time around her, you'll realize she's the type of person you like."

The possums snickered.

"She's last kind of person I'd like! Diego snapped. He couldn't believe what the Sid was saying. "Do you have any idea what she was suggesting when she was talking to you?" Diego growled, turning his head away.

Sid looked like he wanted to reply to Diego's last sentence. He opened his mouth to blurt something out but the saber cut him off.

"On second thought, don't answer that. I don't need anymore talk about that."

"But she definitely likes you." Sid lisped.

"Yeah, she likes me alright. She likes you for crying out loud! That's one of the reasons I think she has gone crazy."

Sid sighed. "If you say so tiger."

But their conversation about Sassy didn't end there. It went on and on with Sid becoming increasingly annoying. Before long, Diego was in a nasty mood.

Not much later, a brown blur bolted in front of them. "You gotta help me! And get that sloth away from me before it happens again!" It was Sassy and she looked terrified. She was also covering her nose for some strange reason.

Immediately, Diego thought she was up to something. He was exasperated by Sid's pestering causing him to have a short fuse. "Look. I've had enough of your crazy love talk and suggestive actions!" Diego snapped. "I told you that you could stay one night and that's it! You created a scene this morning and I've had enough of it! Now get lost!" Diego yelled, looking at her as well as Sid to prove his point that he wanted nothing to do with her.

"No. I mean Sid. Get me away from him please!" she cried, eyes wide in fear. "For some reason his scent makes me go into a trance. I was born with them and I never know what will set them off but it makes me want a romantic relationship with everything I see! I didn't mean to act like that. It's like I have two different personalities." she explained. "Just quickly get Sid away and hide me! I don't care if it's guys that are helping me. Sheba is coming!" Sassy spoke at lightning fast speed. It was hard for Diego to figure out what she was saying but he noted something was wrong other than what was going on earlier. She looked very weak and blood pulsated from her right leg which had a bite wound in the shape of a sloth's tooth.

Diego's jaw dropped when he saw Sheba running toward them at a speed he thought a creature like that was not capable of. "Quick this way!" Diego yelled. He ran with Sassy away from the deranged female sloth. The followed possums behind as fast as they could. But for some reason Sid didn't follow, leaving Diego worried they had left him with Sheba.

The sabers stopped when they got to a depression in the ground hidden by fallen trees. Diego stood there panting and Sassy struggled to sit up upright with the wounds Sheba had given her. The two waited to catch their breath for a moment.

Once Sassy's leg and had stopped bleeding, Diego spoke up. "So let me get this straight. Sid makes you act like that?" Diego asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes!" she practically yelled. "Sid's scent is so pungent and I hate it but it makes me go into a weird state. I wouldn't be having anything to do with males normally but at this point, I don't care if I think you guys are inferior or not. That sloth is out to get me and she's not gonna stop until I either prove to her that I'm a predator or she kills me!" she said panting, her eyes conveying how desperate she was.

Diego took a deep breath. "Ok, tell me about it."

Sassy explained everything to Diego at a rate he could understand as she calmed down. She told Diego that Sheba was planning on killing him too if he didn't prove he was worthy predator. The sabress also told him just how intent Sheba was on getting both of them. The only way to Sheba ooff their backs was to kill three herds of mastodons.

At this point Diego realized how much of a predicament Sheba had put both sabers in. They could not fight or talk their way out. And if they ran away, Sheba was sure to follow them.

"Ok." Diego finally said after a long silence. "You can stay with us until we find a way to get rid of Sheba. But you say Sid makes you go into these trances? What should I do with him?"

Sassy sighed and thought for a moment. "Well…I know of a bitter herb that will block out my smell if I eat it often enough. It will work, even to block out the smell of your stinky sloth friend." She said scrunching up her nose in disgust. "But without my sense of smell, I am much more vulnerable." she continued. "Personally, I do not think much of opposite gender than they are good to sleep with. But if it's my life we are talking about, I am willing to live with you males even if it means giving up my dignity. That sloth is dangerous and will try to get what she wants out of me with any means." She said assertively. "But don't expect me not to complain. Sure it was my idea to get help from you guys and you were kind enough to let me stay but be warned, I think very lowly of males. You guys are brutes and I will not tolerate any one of you in the slightest taking advantage of me like males are famous for doing. I am still who I was when you guys first laid eyes on me. I am a fiercely independent girl with the exception that I will be with you guys until I can get rid of our problem. Don't expect much from me but I will try my best to tolerate you." She glared at all three males as she spoke in a serious and defiant tone.

"Ok. But I expect you at least try to be nice. I don't want anymore trouble from you other than what you've already caused." Diego said turning away as Sassy began to lick her wounds. The female looked like she wanted to shout an insult but restrained herself. Even though she considered him inferior, he was doing her a huge favor so she decided to keep quiet and to try to behave.

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Meanwhile, Sid and Sheba were trying to settle the same conflict. Sid watched as Sassy, Diego, and the possums quickly departed.

"Hey wait for me!" he yelled. He tried to follow after them but someone put her foot in the way and the clumsy sloth tripped over it. "Ow!" he shouted. Sid landed on the ground a loud thud.

The male sloth dusted himself off. Sid looked over to where he fell. Sheba stood in exactly the same spot as where Sid tripped with her arms crossed and a smug expression on her face. She had done it.

Sid looked over at the Sheba. "Why'd you do that?"

"Serves you and your lousy friends right you clumsy rat!"

"No, I mean why are you after my friends?" Sid asked.

"Because you are flea bitten, stinky, mangy…" Sheba was getting herself in a huff as she replied to Sid. She went on and on as she called Sid and his friends names. Pretty soon Sid was saying her name to try to get her to snap out of it. Finally Sid lost his patience.

"Sheba!" he screamed, stopping Sheba's rave. Sheba looked at him with a frown but he had obviously gotten her attention. Sid looked at her fearfully. "Why are you so determined to hurt me and my friends? We've done nothing to you a-and we don't even want to hurt you." he asked, beginning to get nervous. The female was making fists now and it looked like she was about to continue her rant. But Sid was oblivious and continued talking. "And I know you think that Diego needs to be more of a predator but do you want to hurt him? I mean there's gotta be a better hobby right?" Sid said, grinning with the last sentence he said..

Sheba took a deep breath. "Because they are worthless rotten, lazy, stupid scavengers… and you travel with them!" Sheba shrieked in Sid's face so loud that he thought his eardrums would explode.

Sid swallowed and tried to keep his composure. "I know you think that. I-I mean I would agree." Sid said half grinning as he tried to reason with her. "Diego has gone soft. But isn't there a way besides violence to make them prove their point? I mean… all Diego was doing when you first attacked him was eating an animal that was already dead. And the female, why her? She looked like a pretty serious hunter before she fell in love with me this morning. But they could have hunted you instead. That's gotta be better than killing innocent animals right?"

"I'll kill you all then. There's no way better! No way better than violence to show you pathetic creatures!" she shrieked again in Sid's ear. Sid shuttered. He was beginning to realize she was dead serious.

"Now you listen to me or I'll-"

Sid swallowed and muster up enough courage to confront her again. "No, no you listen to ME!" Sid interrupted, pointing a claw at her chest with the most intimidating look on his face he could muster. "These are my friends! Sure they always complain that I'm slow and clumsy …and maybe I am but they accept me for it! Have you ever had someone that was your friend Sheba? Someone to look out for you and comfort you when you needed it? I bet you never have!" Sid whimpered as he began to get upset. "You've never had a friend and you take it out on innocent creatures. You don't care for anyone and hurt people just because you feel like it! You are pathetic Sheba!" he yelled as he shook with anger. Sid immediately covered his mouth, shocked at his sudden bout of anger.

He feared she would give him the worst foe what he said but instead the female sloth put a claw on her chin thinking. "Well ratball, I might be pathetic but there's no way, No WAY to make those sabers prove that they're predators other than fighting them!"

Sid took a breath to calm down. "Please, there's gotta be a better solution. One that doesn't involve hurt. You should-"

"Fine." Sheba interrupted. "You've argued with me enough. I will think of a better plan to get them to show me who they really are." The female said assertively, recrossing her arms.

"Nooooo!" Sid screamed dramactically. "Wait you will?"

"I will. I have just thought of a far better plan. I will leave you guys alone if you allow me to travel with you all until you reach the end of that rock wall."

Sid was shocked. "Really? Nothing else? No hurting or beating or-"

"None of that!" Sheba yelled silencing him. "Unless…. unless once you guys decline my plan. Or you are stupid enough to try to leave me behind." she said playing with her claws. Her voice was dangerously low and had an evil, manipulative tone to it.

"And if we agree, you will-"

"Not hurt you on our trip. Or… harass you afterwards. …And I expect the same from you." Sheba said, pointing a claw at Sid's chest.

Sid smiled. "Deal? Let's shake on it." He held out his paw for her to shake but she put her hands behind her back and glared at him. "Ok, I guess you're like Manny. He doesn't like to do that either."

"Pitiful." Sheba muttered under her breath.

She pointed in the direction Diego and Sassy had gone. "Now we will track your friends to their little hideout. It will be your job to explain my plan to them." she said sternly. "And if they don't let me join, you all will be in for it!" the sloth yelled. "Now let's get a move on."

Sid gulped and followed, praying that she wouldn't change her mind.

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Diego and Sassy were waiting impatiently for Sid to return. Diego was tapping a claw on the ground and Sassy was lying down. She was resting due to her injuries but at the same time she was bored. Sassy had already eaten more than enough of the herbs that blocked out her sense of smell to keep her trances from coming when Sid was around. The possums were laying on their backs, half dozing.

Diego sighed. "If he takes much longer, I'm going to look for him." Sassy nodded and lay her head down, tired and bored.

But suddenly they heard a familiar lisping voice. "I'm back and Sheba is here!"

"What?" the two saber-tooth tigers and possums shouted in unison. Diego jumped up, ready for an attack and Sassy struggled to get to her feet.

"How could you?" Eddie cried as he got up and hid behind Crash.

"Don't worry." Sid said happily.

Sheba walked into view. "That's right. I have a plan."

"A plan to kill us? I don't think so missy!" Diego growled as he tensed his muscles and bared his teeth. He was ready to fight or run, whichever meant less abuse from the sloth.

"No. That plan is long gone." Sheba dismissed it with a wave of her paw. Diego glanced at Sassy nervously. "I have a far better plan. One that your illegitimate side-kick helped me come up with."

Diego's jaw dropped open. "Sid?!"

"That's right. One that involves no fighting if you do what I say." the female sloth said petulantly.

The saber's eyes narrowed. Any faith in her plan had just been washed away. She was definitely hiding something. "And what is that or do I already know?" he growled.

"No. You will let me travel with you until you reach the end of the wall from that massive earthquake. And that's it." The female sloth said refolding her arms in an egotistical manner.

This was a lie if Diego had ever seen one. "You're hiding something!" he half yelled, half growled.

"Wait Diego." Sid said rushing over to Diego. "She means it. I told her how she was wrong and I think that changed her for the better."

"She was lying Sid!" Diego said angrily.

"No. I mean sure she said it kind of evilly but she swore she wouldn't hurt us as long as we let her travel with us and didn't fight her."

The saber didn't buy a word either sloth said. Diego bared his teeth in to Sheba who made fists in preparation for a fight.

The two were about to battle each other. But then a rebellious voice cut through the air, stopping them. "But what choice do we have?" It was Sassy. She groaned and slowly sat up. She cast a glare at the males. "If you try to pick a fight with her now, she'll finish us off. That means back down mister brawn!" she snapped at Diego. The male saber slowly drew back.

"But if we all took her on together, maybe we could take her down." Eddie suggested.

"Stop plotting in front of me will you? I know perfectly how you plan to kill me. You're practically setting the trap as you for yourselves as you discuss it amongst yourselves with me here." Sheba laughed. "But since I'm tolerating you idiots, I'll let you sit hot in debate for a while, just to see crazy your ideas for exterminating me are." she said picking at her claws as sly grin made its way onto her face. She was obviously relaxing and getting pleasure from watching them get angry and irritated as they tried to figure out a way to get rid of her.

Diego suddenly jumped in front of Sheba, pressing his sabers against her windpipe. "You wanna test us lunatic!" he roared.

"No, but I'd like to test you." Sheba grabbed hold of one of Diego's sabers and jerked his head painfully to the side.

"Just listen to her you stubborn sissy!" Sassy snapped, getting up on all four legs. "This is why I don't like males! You don't know when to get into a scrap and when to back down. You wanna get us all killed Diego? Go ahead." she said, flashing her fangs at him.

Diego winced as he pulled himself out of Sheba's grasp. "Fine! We will go with her plan. But it is your fault if you get us all killed!" he yelled back at the hot-tongued female.

"More like your fault for starting the fight in the first place." Sassy shouted, turning away with her head raised defiantly.

"My fault? Sheba started it by coming here in the first place!" he yelled back at her.

"GUUUYS PPLLLEEEAASE STTTOOOPP!" Sid screamed at the top of his lungs, quieting the pair. "You are so loud you're making my ears hurt." He said simply as if that was why he yelled so loud. Sid rubbed the part of his head where his ears would be if they were visible. The sabers both glared at the sloth.

"Yeah, just stop arguing already!" Crash added "That sloth is made of steel and there's nothing we can do to get rid of her… at least you sabers anyway." Crash said sternly.

"I second that bro." Eddie agreed.

"Ok!" Diego snarled. "She stays until we find the rest. That means no if's, and's or butt's, myself included. Now let's get on with our trip before this deranged sloth changes her mind!" Diego limped out of their hiding spot, growling slightly as he waited for the rest to follow him. Sassy would surely slow things down with her injuries. He was not looking forward this.

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So, whatyathink? I didn't have Scrat in this because this chapter was already so long. …In fact, it was going to be twice this length but I decided to split it in two. The other half of it will be in the next chapter. Anyway, I hope you liked it.

R & R please.