Chapter Four:

The moon hung high in the sky as everyone stopped their work for the night. If everything kept at its current pace they'd be more than ready for when the storm hit. That wasn't what Ellie was worried about as she headed back to the campsite.

They passed by them on the way home. The men and boys all gathered around the fire in a rowdy and laughing group, while the women and girls hung out in the back. Same as she remembered. They'd spotted her, and Sawyer called out to her.

"Hey, 'Liza!"

She ignored them and kept walking.

"Aw, c'mon. Why don't you come and sit a while?"

She didn't answer, she just kept walking, everyone else following along behind her. Manny set his trunk on her back as he shot glares to the group. Diego trailed a little further behind, so he could let out a roar towards the group after they'd past. The entire group jumped and screamed in fear at the growling, and Diego sauntered off, proud of himself.

Once they reached their normal spot, Side started a fire, setting himself a flame as usual.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!"

Crash and Eddie threw snowballs at him to put the flame out. After a few tosses, the flames went out.

"Thanksh guysh, but…" Sid opened up one of the snowballs. "Rocksh!? Was that needed?"

"No, but it's fun," Crash answered.

Even from the safe distance they were at, she could still hear the men laughing a carrying on. She rubbed the back of her neck, both because of the crick that the work that day had caused, and nerves. Everyone else settled down for the night and began to go asleep. Sid, as usual, passed out immediately and began muttering in his sleep. Ellie still stayed put, thinking everything over.

All things considered, it could have gone worse. None have them have tried to hurt her yet. Unless you counted them trying to pull her in the center of the circle during the initial meet up. Maybe she shouldn't worry so much. Maybe nothing would happen. Maybe they'd stay and then go just like she wanted. Still…

She sighed, and walked over to her tree to sleep, but stopped. She didn't want to be alone. She didn't feel like hanging upside down like she normally did, not while they were around. That would make her more exposed, more vulnerable. Maybe it was silly. It was silly. She hesitated, thinking her decision over. Looking about her, she could see that everyone else was asleep, except for Manny. She just now noticed that he was still awake, watching her carefully. Ellie sighed as she walked towards him.

"You okay?" Manny asked as he took her trunk in his.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just…" she hung her head, a little embarrassed.

"What?"

"Can I stay down here with you tonight?" she asked quietly. "If you don't want to, I understand, I just-"

"You really think I'm going to turn down a chance to hold my mate?" Manny asked, a smile on his face as he patted the ground next to him.

She smiled as she settled down next to him. Because of her upbringing as a possum, it was hard for her to comfortable on the ground, unless she leaned against Manny, which was why she didn't do it often, because it couldn't have been comfortable for him. He never complained, though, and slipped his trunk around her as he held her close. She snuggled up against him, closing her eyes and letting herself relax. He set his head on top of hers and they fell asleep.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Manny awoke to the feeling of something constricting around his shoulder. He blinked to ride himself of the sleepy daze and became aware of someone whimpering next to him. He finally snapped himself out of the sleepy haze and turned to find Ellie curled up in a ball next to him, still asleep, but shaking, whimpering, and clutching onto him for dear life. He reached out and cupped her face, gently stroking her cheek to see if she'd wake.

"Ellie?"

She didn't, but she seemed to calm down a bit. Noticing this, he drew her closer to him, and began to whisper to her, seeing if he could calm her without actually waking her up. She needed rest.

"It's okay," he told her. "It's just a nightmare, you're safe."

She calmed down a slipped back into a peaceful slumber. He stared at her, pressing his mouth into a fine line as he thought.

This wasn't fair! These nightmares, the things she'd been through, the demons of her past coming back to haunt her now. She didn't deserve any of that. He knew better than anyone what it was like to be tormented by the trauma of the past in his sleep. It was the last thing he wanted for her. But that's what was happening. And there was nothing he could do about it. He could, however, make sure these demons didn't torment her the way they had when she was a child. If any of them touched a single hair on her…

She snuggled closer to him in her sleep, lying her head on his shoulder, breaking him out of his thoughts. Looking at her now, she looked perfectly fine. Peaceful, serene, and…well, adorable. Smiling at her, he slipped his trunk around hers, still holding onto his shoulder, and looked about to see what time of day it was and what was going on around him. The sky was just now starting to turn a lighter purple, so there were still several hours left until morning. That's not what caught Manny's attention, though.

Lying near the almost dead campfire, huddled together, were three young mammoth girls. One looked to be about 14, one 20, and the youngest about 7. They had to be from Asher and Rowena's group. He'd never seen them before and, as he squinted through the dark to see them better, he could see resemblance between them and Ellie.

There was no telling what had brought them here, poor things. Sighing angrily at the list of possibilities, he leaned his head against Ellie's and tried to go back to sleep, deciding to leave the three girls alone. He closed his eyes, and tried to go back to sleep, but then he heard a gasp.

He looked up and saw that the oldest of the three girls had awoken. At the sight of him, her eyes grew wide and she jumped to her feet.

"Guys, c'mon, c'mon, we gotta go!" she shrieked, pulling the ten year old up on her feet, shaking her awake and jamming the younger one with her foot.

"Hey, calm down," Manny called to them as they shook themselves awake and began fumbling to get on their feet and out of the area. They all looked up at him, terrified. It hurt him, to see three girls so young so scared.

"You're not hurting anyone," he told them. "You're fine, go back to sleep."

"R-r-really?" the oldest girl asked.

"Yeah, you three are fine," he assured them.

"We didn't want to intrude, we just wanted to get warm. We didn't mean to fall asleep," the oldest continued.

"It's okay," Manny repeated. "You can sleep here. I don't care."

"If you want us to make it up to you in some way, we can-"

"Gosh, Joyce, he said its fine, let's sleep," the ten-year-old mumbled as she collapsed back on the ground and went straight to quiet snoring. The littlest one hesitated before following the ten-year-old's example and going back to sleep. The oldest, however, stood where she was, looking lost and confused.

"You're alright," Manny promised her. She stared at him, not sure if she should believe him or not. After a moment of awkward silence she took a few steps closer to them, her gaze no longer resting on Manny, but lying on Ellie.

"Is she really Eliza?" she asked.

Manny nodded. "She goes by Ellie now, but, yeah, this is her…"

The girl stared hard at her, looking a little teary-eyed, and curious. Her blue eyes were filled with wonder. With her closer to him, he could now tell that, of the three girls, this one looked the most like Ellie.

"I never thought I'd get to meet her…" the girls whispered.

"Did they tell you a lot about her?"

She shook her head. "Only that she died and that…if we leave the group of hold the group behind that's what will happen to us. Or me. I'm not sure if Uncle Sawyer ever told Remy or Helena that."

"They aren't your sisters?" Manny gestured to the two sleeping younger girls. The older one shook her head.

"No, they're my cousins." She pointed to Ellie. "She's my sister."

Manny turned and looked back at his sleeping mate, and back to the young girl standing in front of them. Yeah. He saw it. He could tell they were sisters.

"I never met her, obviously," the girl continued. "Just heard about her from Mom and Dad."

"Do you have any other brothers or sisters?" Manny asked, now curious.

The girl shook her head. "No. It's just us. Mom she…she's not good at having babies."

"Oh," Manny turned and looked back at Ellie. So it had been a struggle for her parents to have, and they still treated her the way they had? And now this little girl, standing in front of him, had only known her as a morality tale that was used to manipulate her into submission to a group of abusers…

"What's your name?" he asked her.

"Joyce," the girl answered. "And that's Remy," she pointed to the ten-year-old. "And that's Helena," she pointed to the youngest one. "Sure you don't mind us staying here, sir?"

"I'm sure, and my name's Manny, you don't have to call me sir."

"Okay, Mr. Manny."

He chuckled. "Nah, just Manny."

Joyce looked a little surprised, but nodded, even if a little confusedly. Manny frowned a bit. She was clearly scared of him a little, and he had a sneaky suspicion why.

"Just go to sleep, kid," he told her. "It's still late."

Joyce nodded and walked back over to her cousins.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"What's going on here?!" a loud voice boom, waking up everyone in the clearing. Crash and Eddie feel from their branches in shock.

"Hey, why'd you push me?"

"Me push you? You pushed me!"

"Oh yeah, then why am I on the groun, and not in the tree?"

"Why am I on the ground and not in the tree?"

"It's not my fault you have a weak tail."

"I don't have a weak tail! It's just sensitive to certain tree saps."

"Which makes it weak!"

"Well, it doesn't help that you always blow your nose on it!"

"I don't! You do that to me!"

"Do not!"

"Why you-"

As the two rodents began wrestling with one another, everyone else turned to find Asher, Sawyer, Miles, and the elder standing in the middle of the clearing near the three young girls. Joyce quickly scrambled to her feet, shielding Remy and Helena behind her. Ellie frowned in confusion at the scene. What was going on? Who were these girls? Why-

"What are you doing here, Joyce?" Asher demanded to know.

"I…I just…I…"

"You're supposed to be at our camp!"

"I'm sorry, Dad."

Ellie gasped. Dad? This was her sister?

"Yeah, well sorry doesn't-"

Manny stood up and quickly interjected. "They got cold, so they came here because we still had a fire going."

Asher gave Manny an annoyed scowl. "Thank you for the explanation, but I wasn't talking to you."

"He said we could!" Remy pointed to Manny in defense.

"Did he, now?" Asher huffed. "Well, he's not your father, so I don't see-"

"We just wanted to get warm, we didn-" Joyce began.

"What did you say!?" Asher shouted.

Joyce flinched. "Nothing, sir."

"What have I told you about talking back to me!?"

"I'm sorry, I just-"

"You're doing it again!"

"I'm sorry," Joyce hung her head, tears forming in her blue eyes.

"Yeah, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry,' that's all you ever say. You and your mother! Why do I even put up with your crap anymore? Huh!? Tell me why I shouldn't-"

Asher raised his trunk, only to have Manny step in between him and the girls.

"What that for?" he demanded to know from the older male. "They didn't hurt anyone!"

"This doesn't concern you, out of my way!"

"Why, so you can smack the teeth out of them?"

"That's my daughter, I'll-"

"So am I," Ellie spoke up as she joined her mate's side. "but you ain't gonna smack me around, or my sister while I'm here."

Asher glared at her, and it made her insides grow cold, but she stood firm.

"I'll deal with you later," he growled at her.

"Excuse me?" Manny asked.

"Oh, would you knock it off already! Seriously.

"You are not a part of this young man!" the elder finally spoke up from where he, Miles, and Sawyer had been watching on.

"Yeah!" Miles agreed in full fervor.

"Oh shut up grandpa and kid wonder wanna-be," Manny cried.

"Who you calling a kid?" Miles challenged, getting right into Manny unamused face. Ellie hissed, suddenly afraid for him, but he was perfectly calm.

"You," Manny answered, and pushed Miles with one swoop of his trunk.

"For goodness sakes," Asher groaned. "This is a family business-"

"I'm her mate," Manny reminded Asher, pointing to Ellie. "So guess what? That means I'm a part of this family. Whether either of us likes it or not."

"So, what? You're just going to step in and run the show, is that it?"

"Heck no! I'm already one asylum with the crew I've got, why would I want two?"

"Schould I be offended at that?" Sid piped up from where he sat in the back.

"Not now, Sid," Manny grumbled.

"Alright, I will get back to you later."

Manny rolled his eyes as he continued. "I don't want to take over anything, but I WIIL protect my mate and those three girls."

"Why would you even care about them girls?" Sawyer spoke up. "You ain't got nothing invested in them."

"Because they're innocent and I actually have a soul."

"Are you implying we-"

Manny quickly cut Sawyer off. "Yes. Yes I am."

"Well, that's not very polite, is it?" the elder asked.

"I never said I was polite," Manny stated.

"Clearly you don't know him if you're thought he ever did," Ellie snickered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Manny asked.

"Nothing," Ellie tried to look innocent.

"Mm-hmm."

"She's saying you're a grump," Diego answered.

"Maybe," Ellie kept up her innocent face.

"Gee, thanks, babe," Manny retorted in fake anger.

"You're welcome."

She grinned as he glared with playfulness in his eyes.

"Oh, shut up, Eliza!" Miles screeched. "Haven't you caused enough trouble already!?"

"Excuse me?" Ellie narrowed her eyes.

"Yeah, you're the one who brought him into this mess and drew these girls over here."

"I was asleep. I didn't even know they were here until you came in causing a riot. Not that it matters to me-"

"Nobody asked you! Gosh!" Miles groaned. "Now will you two get out of the way and let us get to pounding these three?"

"Nope," Manny answered.

"Why not?"

"What did they do? They just wanted to get warm."

"Well, maybe they should have stopped pulling these kinds of stunts and they could get closer to our fire," Sawyer retorted.

"No…maybe if you'd stop making the same mistakes you made with me that nearly got me killed, they wouldn't have to go looking elsewhere in order to survive."

"Oh, don't be so melodramatic, they weren't going to die," Asher rolled his eyes.

"Is that what you said about me before that storm hit?" Ellie challenged. Asher glared at her.

"You didn't die," Miles pointed out.

"No thanks to you."

"Oh, what do you-"

All of the mammoths suddenly erupted into a loud argument until an ear-piercing roar filled the air. Everyone jumped and turned to see Diego, supposedly yawning. He gave a feigned look of oblivion.

"What? Did I frighten anyone?" he pointed out a digit, and extended a claw to it's full length, causing Asher and his group to jump. "Anyone?"

Everyone else in the herd snickered at his antics, but Asher and his group were not amused. Asher just glared at the tiger, who was not intimidated in the least, then turned back to the girls.

"Go back to the camp this instant." His voice was cold and intense, and caused the three young girls to slink off in fear.

Manny and Ellie watched them go in pity. Joyce looked over her shoulder back at them. No one had ever come to her defense like that before. She wasn't sure what to make of it. But she was grateful. Once she, Remy, and Helena had gone, the adults turned and face each other again.

"Better not hurt them," Manny warned.

"Or what?" Asher challenged. "You'll came and…do what exactly?"

"Yeah? What?" Miles asked. "Burn our faces? Gouge our eyes out? Take our manhoods-"

"Don't tempt me," Manny warned again, and the other four males took a slight step back. Though there was more of them, Manny was clearly taller and bigger than all of them, unlike the women of their herd they were used to pushing around.

The elder finally spoke up. "You've already stolen one of our girls, why don't you-"

"Stolen? You left her. I just had enough sense to not walk right by treasure, that's all."

Ellie blushed slightly at his comment.

"Aw, how sweet," Sawyer mocked. "Blech! Let's just go, guys, we're wasting time."

"Yeah, let's go," Miles agreed as he followed his father. The elder and Asher stayed around for a bit longer. Asher finally left after another stare down with the young couple. The elder hung back though, smiling evilly at Ellie. As he began to walk off, he made sure to walk right past her.

"He can't be your guard dog forever," he whispered in a voice low enough that only she could hear it. "Let's see what happens when you have to fight on your own."