Xion the Author: *Drum roll* THIS. IS. AMERICAN IDOL!
Everyone: . . .
Xion the Author: Just kiddin'! THIS IS CHAPTER 4!
Everyone: Cheers and applaudes.
Xion the Author: Thank you! Thank you! I made a bit of delay making this to make it reeeeaaaaally long to decrease the number of chapters (my original goal was 20+) and to reduce(or induce) cliff hanging! Bwahahaha!!!! This chapter is gonna be full of new OCs! The delay was the cause of another decision. But now I decided to make new OCs to let the story last longer!
Ryan: It'll tangle up the story mostly between me! You wanted to see more of me right?
Xion the Author: I also want to thank you all for reading until now! I've been watching Ice Age 1 and 2 these past days. It's been a long time since I watched them, so i needed to remember. ^ . ^
Chapter IV. Certain Mammoth Issues
Buck jumped over to the stegosaurus, cut out a nearby vine, and lassoed the dinosaur making it lie down on its side. He did that all in exactly three seconds.
Ellie was staring at the now-blocked cave, their only way back. "No!" shouted Ellie. Buck covered his ears, startled by the mammoth shouting.
"No? What do you mean, no?" replied Buck questioningly "Didn't I just save your hide there?"
"That was our only way back!" she said pointing at the cave with her trunk. "How will we get home now?"
"Oh that, well, that's quite easy. You see-"
"Buck?" interrupted Barret while on Ellie. "Is that you?" The white weasel then climbed down from her to see him.
"Barret!" said Buck excitingly, running to hug him as soon as he reached the ground. "It's so good to see you!"
"Ummm.. Excuse me, but-" said Ellie, clearly confused. "-Do you guys know each other?"
"Sure do!" said Buck, rubbing Barret's noggin. "He's my brother!"
"Stop! Hahahaha!" pleaded Barret.
"What?!" said Ellie surprisingly
"Well, he's my little brother." said Buck. "By the way, what are you doing here?"
"Long story, but what are you doing here?" asked Barret. "It's been 10 years since I've seen ya'!?
"Okay guys." Ellie interrupted. "I don't break your little reunion here, but would you mind telling me why you destroyed the cave?"
"Oh! Well, plain and simple. I did it to keep the dinosaurs from going up."
"You do realize that we don't have any way back now."
"Actually, this is just one of the caves opening up to world above."
"Wait." said Barret. "There's more of these caves?"
"Aye. The first one I saw was the one I took you guys back with, after caving it in, I found even more tunnels all around this place. I've been spending some of my time caving them in while looking for Rudy."
"Who's Rudy?" asked Barret, looking at his older sibling with such interest.
"He's a big dinosaur. The name doesn't really sound intimidating when you hear it, but wait till you get to see the real thing." said Ellie in a simple and somewhat elegant way.
"He's the biggest, wildest, most dangerous creature in the world! said Buck in a rowdy and exciting, in this world of course, seeing as there isn't any dino up there… right?"
"Yeah, there really aren't any dinos up there."
"Okay! On with the other questions." said Buck. "What are you doing here - again?"
"I'm looking for Peaches, Crash, Eddie, and Sid. We think they found themselves in here."
"We followed the path right into the cave." said Barret. "There was a fork in there, and we tried all three passages before ending up here." He then looked up at the bright yellow ceiling. "Boy, have we been in there for awhile now."
"Well then! You probably want ma' help findin' 'em." said Buck picking up his knife. "And this Sid fella' too, again"
"I'd really appreciate it if you would."
"Cool! A search and rescue mission with my old brother!"
"Who ya' callin' old?" said Buck. "By the way, did they get taken here by another dinosaur?
"No, I don't think so. I think they went in here alone, thanks to my brothers I guess, and I doubt Sid has anything to do with this."
"Hmm. Well then!" said Buck walking the other way. "Let's follow their tracks! By the end of the day, we might find 'em by then! You remember the rules, right mammoth?"
"Err… What rules?" whispered Barret to Ellie.
"Well, rule number one, always listen to Buck. Rule number 2, stay in the middle of the trail. And rule number 3, well, it's not really worth mentioning at all"
"What is it? Tell me."
"Do you have gas?" An odd question.
"Rise and shine sleepy heads!" said Sid waking everyone up. "Come on! It's gonna be dangerous if we don't get a move on! The faster we find Buck, the faster we get to safety, right?"
After saying this, Peaches, Crash and Eddie rose up to their feet. And after a few seconds of trying to get their eyes open, their stomachs grumbled out in unison.
"Haha!" said Sid somewhat triumphantly. "I knew you guys would be hungry! So-" He puts down some fruits and vegetables. "-I gathered some of these to keep you strong and HEALTHY!"
"Uhhh… Are these really… edible?" said Peaches, poking at the tough lettuce, really tough lettuce.
"Well, at least the fruits okay." said Crash picking up the pomegranate and took small bites at it.
"Actually, they're kinda pretty good! said Eddie while gorging at the melon.
They way everyone was acting reminded Sid of Pinky and the dinosaur kids he raised for some time. "I wonder how they're all doing".
Manny woke up with the sun in his eyes, seeing Ryan still lying down but with his eyes open, trying to remember anything from his memories.
"You okay there?" asked Manny at Ryan.
"Uhh. Yes, thank you for your hospitality and all."
"How you holding up, still don't remember anything?"
"Other than my name and what I look like. I have a scar on my face, right?"
"Uhhh… yeah! Does that ring a bell to anything?"
"None that I know of."
"Hey guys." said Diego walking towards them. "Was I gone too long?"
"Wait. You were gone?" asked Manny without a clue
"I just woke up too, so I didn't know either." admitted Ryan.
"So you both just woke up?" asked Diego
"Yeah, so, where did you go?"
"I went up that hill over there early." said Diego pointing at it. "And you won't like what I just saw with my own eyes."
"How bad is it?" asked Manny.
"The wall reaches out farther than we expected. It looks like the only way is by going through Half Peak and then going round the once known Glacier Pass, though all the ice has now melted, the wall stretches out and we might have to pass through human settlements there. We should probably avoid those, but it's the quickest way back."
"There isn't any other way?"
"I'm afraid there isn't. This trip will take longer than we all expected." said Diego.
Manny fell silent for a while, thinking about what to do next.
"Alright, I trust you. We should start moving now. The sooner, the better." said Manny firmly.
Manny and Diego started to walk before Ryan interrupted "Uh, wait!" They both look back at him, staring at him getting up with effort. "Can I come with you?"
"Why?" said Manny. "Why should we take you with us? What reason do you have?"
"Well, you said you found me over there, right? I remember walking in that direction too. Maybe it means something.
"Did you lose your memory before or after the blizzard?" asked Manny.
"I… think it was… before." said Ryan with certainty.
"Still sure you need to go there?"
"I am. It's the only lead to my memories that I've got."
Diego looked to Manny to agree, but Manny suddenly said something instead that shocked him. "That still doesn't mean that you can come with us! Wasn't saving you enough already?! Because of you, we got our herd separated!" Manny was obviously blaming Ryan for what happened. Ryan looked down; he thought that maybe if he wasn't saved, this guy might still have been with his family.
"Come on Diego, let's go." said Manny turning his back against Ryan.
"W-wait! We can't just leave him like this!" persuaded Diego.
"Sure we can! He'll only slow us down anyways."
"Please." Ryan pleaded. "I'm begging you. I won't slow you down."
Manny was trying to calm down. He was angry, but he couldn't blame Ryan for what happened. "Fine. But you'd better not." he said, and he continued on walking.
Diego approached Ryan to accompany him. "Sorry about Manny, he could be a little… edgy… from time to time."
"I don't blame him. Actually, I felt a bit selfish. Maybe I shouldn't come with you."
"We all get a bit selfish from time to time, sure. Don't worry about it, it'll be fine. Just… try to keep up with us though." said Diego and made their way to catch up with Manny.
Buck was guiding Ellie and Barret through the jungle. They were following footprints made by the gang. Barret was walking along with Buck catching up while Ellie followed behind them.
"So, what happened to your eye?" Barret asked with half curiosity and half sympathy
"Oh, errr... I lost it Rudy before, when I wasn't much of a survival expert then."
"How did you get that knife of yours?" continued to ask Barret.
"Same time I lost my eye. Maybe I should just tell you the story."
As soon as Buck was about to narrate his grand story about how he lost his eye and won his knife, Ellie interrupted. "Umm guys?" The weasels both looked back to her. "Where should we head off too now?" she said, pointing further to where they were walking. There path divided into two.
"Ah! That's easy. All we have to do is follow the tracks and-" Just as Buck was about to finish his sentence, a large dinosaur stampede went about in front of them. "Stay back!"
The stampede lasted for about a mere ten seconds. Ellie was surprised, and was even more surprised to see Barret hiding behind her. His legs were shaking with fear.
"*sigh*, looks like it'll take us a bit longer to get them." said Buck pointing at the clearing. The tracks were covered up by large dinosaur footprints. They had no idea where to go now.
"Well… I've passed through here before. One road leads to other places and so does the other, but they all meet after those certain places."
"What kind of places?" asked Barret with half fear and half-curiosity.
"Well, I forgot which road takes you to the Labyrinth of Doom. And that the other road would take you to the Lake of Demise.
"How could you possibly forget? Don't you live in this world?" said Ellie angrily
"It's bigger than you think, mammoth. It's not something I cross everyday or so."
Ellie felt embarrassed. She shouldn't have felt angry at Buck. In fact, she should feel obliged.
"So, which way will we go?" asked Barret.
"Let's go this way." Buck said pointing at the left road. "Let's just hope our lucks good!" And they continued to walk that way.
And of course, it wasn't. Peaches and the others went the other way.
This event happened over a day ago…
"Nia!" her father shouted. "Nia! Where are you?" Her father was looking for her worriedly. After looking at every place he could think of, he remembered the last place she could be. Hurriedly, he runs to that place, and she was there, sitting alone at River Cliff looking out at the distance.
"Nia. Here you are." Her father said as she looked back at him.
"What is it, father?" she asked after turning back to see who it was.
"What do you mean? Have you forgotten?" Her father implied. "Today is the day of the Ceremony."
"Oh… right…" Nia said.
Her father let out a sigh. "Come now. You don't want to be late." He said and starts walking back.
"Okay." She looks back only once at the cliff, and followed him.
. . . . .
They finally got back at the village just in time. Her betrothed and his pack had just arrived. Nia didn't like the idea of this, an engaged marriage. But, as it was important to keep the pack bigger and bigger, she had to do this to ensure the bonds of both their packs and unite them through the Ceremony.
His betrothed was a strong and proud wolf, they say. He and his pack had settled down on the other side of the village. They say it was bad luck to see your betrothed before the Ceremony. She was preparing herself, not about how she looked, but as to how she was going to be able to do this.
It was almost time. Part of her didn't want to do this. The part that did was the love for her father. The part that didn't, was the love for her true one.
The Ceremony was now about to start. Her father had now told her that they were ready, and asked her if she was as well. Because of the love for her father, she said yes.
She walked to the center of the village with her betrothed walking from the other side. All the wolves were howling in unison. Her father stood as the head of the Ceremony. He stood in front of them as they stood side by side. "Let us begin."
"Great Wolf! We are gathered here today to join these two individuals, to join our families! And to ensure the safety and prosperity of our kind! If there is anything that thinks that these two does not belong together, show us now or forever will these two be joined!"
Not a single wolf had spoken a word. Nia was now feeling somehow upset. She still loved her true one, however, he was now gone, and what could he do now.
But as soon as she thought of this, the earth suddenly cracked open. The ground was shaking, and everyone was now standing on their feet. Huge cracks opened up everywhere in the village. Everyone was trying not to fall in. Soon after this all began, it ended. Everyone was shocked, especially Nia.
. . . . .
"This must be a sign!" The Alpha of the other pack said. "These two cannot belong together, and neither do our packs!"
"Please, with all due respect, that is not necessarily true-" Nia's father, also the Alpha of their pack, tried to convince him to reconsider.
"What do you mean? The ground opened up right under our feet! Is that not already a sign?! If I knew better, your daughter is damned!"
Nia was hiding behind a bush listening to them. She overheard this, and couldn't help herself but cry. She ran away from that place, back to River Cliff, where almost all her happy memories was shared with that true one of hers. She thought of what the Alpha of the other pack had said was true. After all, just three days ago, she had lost her true one.
And there, she cried with the moon now rising above her, brightly shining. A torturous sight for her now, as it triggered her to remember those now painful memories.
"Nia…"
"What? Did you say something?" asked Diego to Ryan. Diego looked at Ryan with such sympathy as he reminded him of the days he was alone.
"Huh? Uh, no, its nothing." Ryan said, thinking about the word that had just popped right into his head.
Ryan wasn't the only thing thinking worriedly about thoughts that kept bothering him, even Diego and Manny were as well. Manny, of course, was still thinking about Ellie and Peaches, and… yeah… Crash, Eddie, and Sid too. He thought about something Sid told him that Diego told Sid all those years before.
Look, things have changed. Manny has other priorities now. Face it Sid, we've had a nice run, but, now we have to move on…
Manny realized that what Diego said was true. Ever since he met Ellie, and found out about the baby, that was all he ever thought about. He seldom thought about Diego, and even less about Sid. He became too much of a father, that he had forgotten about being a friend. If it hadn't been for Buck, he wouldn't have anyone. He also regarded about what that crazy weasel told him before.
A better friend? Are you plucking my whiskers? You risked your life, your baby, and your mate to save your buddy. Not the best husband or father, but, a darn good friend…
Diego was still thinking about what he had told to Sid and the twins. Ever since he told them, he was reminded of that painful memory. He couldn't sleep as much as he did before, he kept dreaming of that… nightmare. Although it was about the time his mother brought them to that river, them having fun, it was painful, because he knew what happened next afterward.
With all of them thinking so hard, they were all silent, and could hardly hear anything if any one of them said something.
The gang was laughing and chasing each other while they were journeying towards Buck, although they have no idea where he is. Crash and Eddie was running around and Peaches tried to catch them. Sid was watching them from behind, feeling happy about it although they could be eaten by a dinosaur at any time.
"Come and catch me! Hahaha!" cried Crash while running and jumping around. Sid saw a peculiar stone in the ground and examined it.
"Ooohh… shiny." he said. But while looking at it, he didn't notice that the rest of the gang had gone ahead, and he was left behind. Not long after, he realized this, and tried to catch up with them. While Crash, Eddie and Peaches kept on the path, Sid went in a detour.
With leaves and branches hitting his face continuously as he ran, he got annoyed about it slowed down. After doing so, he heard some dinosaurs and hid in the bushes. It came from in front of them, and he peaked. To his surprise, he saw three medium-sized T-Rexes, playing around with such joy. Although they had grown up, Sid could still remember the. The two of them with brown eyes, one of which has brown spots on his nose, and the third one has blue eyes. It was the three dinosaurs Sid raised before. This made Sid ultimately happy to see them all again. He wanted to go greet them, but he was afraid he might turn into lunch. He remembered an old conversation with Manny, and Diego.
"Please Manny! At least let me babysit her for a few hours!" said Sid.
"No Sid. I know how good you can be with parenting dinosaurs, but seeing as how you handled with other kids, I still can't trust you." said Manny
"What? Why not? All the kids love me!"
"They hoist you on a rope, hang you at a tree and whack you with a stick."
"And they get happy! What's wrong with that?"
"You'll make Peaches a bad egg. Maybe soon she might want to whack another uncle instead of greeting him."
"Awww... I'd let my kids do that to me anyways..."
"If it were your dinosaur kids, they'd probably eat you right on the spot." said Diego
"Oh yeah... I wonder how they're doing now..." said Sid
"Probably having the time of their lives, let it go." said Manny.
"I agree with Manny, if at some time you would meet them again, they'd probably not recognize you."
"What? That's impossible! I'm still their mother!"
"Correction. You're their snack now. Remember Sid, they were really young when you left them, so they probably won't even remember you."
After remembering this, he looked at his kids one last time and went another way to catch up with the others.
. . . . .
"Guys! There you are!" said Sid, finally catching up with them and now trying to catch his breath. "Sorry I was gone for a while"
"Oh, you were gone?" asked Peaches, which made Sid's heart ache.
"Well, I'm hungry, so I'm going to get some fruit." said Crash.
"Wait up! I'm coming with you!" said Eddie.
And with this, Sid sat utterly silent.
Everyone was walking towards a destination unknown to them. And it wasn't long until the day was about to end.
Scoot was walking around all buffed and his muscle showing. Scratte was staring at him, clearly attracted to him. Scrat was watching at two things, his nut and Scoot. Who was this squirrel? Although Scrat and Scratte couldn't have a nice relationship with each other, he couldn't help getting jealous at him. Half of him wanted his nut, and his other half wanting to take out his jealousy at Scoot. Caught between trying to decide which of the two he would do, he decided to just do both instead, and thought of a plan while still following them.
By the end of the day, Manny and his group had gotten to Half Peak. Ellie, Barret and Buck were catching up with Sid and his gang, but were still far away. For the latter, they had made camp at a clearing and snuggled up at a fire. The journey was still long.
Xion the Author: This concludes this chapter! Hope you all enjoyed it! Phew! We're finally getting things moving. You can't write much with just sleeping animals. ^ . ^ For those of you who forgot, here are the groups:
Group 1: Sid, Crash, Eddie, Peaches
Group 2: Manny, Diego, Ryan (which WILL divide *spoiler*)
Group 3: Ellie, Buck, Barret
Group 4: Scrat, Scratte, Scoot
Xion the Author: Wew, made it really long. Revealed a part that will leave you cliff hanging. Bwahahahaha!!!! Thank you debit13 for your idea with Diego reminiscing conversations. I tried doing the same thing with Manny and voila! It's not as good but... voila! XD
Barret: HA! Checkmate!
Buck: Errr... I think I'm the black one and your the white one so, your checkmate bro!
Barret: Gack!
Ryan: Still not improving I see...
Buck: Hmm... I wonder where my knights went?
Ryan: (looks at Barret suspiciously)
Review please!