ATTENTION! READ THE FOLLOWING!: Gah! I love you all :) My reviewers are so important to me! That's why I'm asking for your help: Please, will you all write a small summary of this story in your next review? I don't like the one I have now... It's not ropin in enough people...
Okay! On with the show!
DISCLAIMER: I own Mariana. I own this Dr. Pepper I'm drinking I do not own the regular characters.
*-KTKK-* ~Kitty~
They eventually got out of the icy part of the cave. Diego never thought dirt could feel so good. He really hated snow. It felt cold and it melted into water, which he hated. And snow could have ice underneath it. Dirt had nothing underneath it except more dirt, plain and simple.
"Oh, look! Tigers!"
For a second, Diego thought he had seen the pack. But then he saw the drawings.
The kid started whimpering. "No, it's okay, it's okay. Look, the tigers are just playing tag with the antelope." Pausing, Sid grimaced. "With their teeth."
Diego smirked. "Come on, Sid." He circled around the sloth. "Let's play tag. You're it."
Sid gulped, but quickly recovered after Diego had put space between the two.
"Sure. Okay, okay, okay. Where are the sloths? You never see any sloths. Have you ever noticed?" Noticing a painting, Sid shouted, "Look Manny! A mammoth!"
"Somebody pinch me."
"Hey hey, this fat one looks just like you! And he's got a family!" By that, Diego and Manny had made their way over to him. "And he's happy!" Diego could see the sadness in Manny's eyes. "Look, he's playing with his kid. That's your problem. That's what mammoths are supposed to do."
"Sid..." Diego warned.
"Find a shemmoth, have baby mammoths..."
"Sid." This time, it was firmer.
"What?"
"Shut up."
"But..." And then, Sid seemed to realize the distant look in Manny's eyes, the pain.
It was then that Diego realized that he and Manny had both lost their families, and at the hands of the humans, too. It was weird that he felt no hatred toward them. As Manny ran his trunk across the picture, Diego couldn't help but feel lucky. He had Mariana, but Manny had no one except an idiot sloth annoying him, a burden in the form of a baby, and a tiger leading him to his doom. He had never felt worried, guilty, and lucky at the same time.
They left the cave in a comfortable silence after that.
"Would you look at that? The tiger actually did it. There's Half Peak. Next stop, Glacier Pass," Manny said, as they gazed at the mountain.
'You mean next stop, the pack's claws,' Diego thought guiltily.
"How could I ever have doubted you?" Sid asked. He then turned his attention to Pinky. "Did you hear that, little fella? You're almost home!"
He paused. Something didn't feel right. Looking down, he saw that the ground had a red sheen to it. "My feet are sweating."
"Do we need a news flash every time your body does something?" Diego snapped. He felt bad. He didn't need that agrivation.
"Ignore him. He's just doing it for attention."
"Seriously. My feet are really hot!"
They all stopped when a rumble ripped through the air. Diego's ears perked up.
"Please tell me that was your stomach."
"Shhh!"
"Maybe it was thunder from under... ground?"
Suddenly, lava shot through the ice. They all screamed and ran. The ice fell, creating a narrow and thin bridge. Lava erupted in front of him, separating him from the others.
"Keep up with me!" Sid shouted as he ran, though the ice prevented him from going anywhere.
"I would if you were moving!"
Diego took the chance and jumped. He soared through the air, skidding to a halt safely behind Manny.
"I wish I could jump like that."
"Wish granted!"
After Manny had kicked Sid, he had barely moved.
"Come one, move faster!"
"Have you noticed the river of lava?"
Manny's eyes narrowed as he saw the thin ice in front of him. The heat was rapidly melting the ice. If he walked on it, it would surely break with him and the kid. Looking down at the terrified Pinky, he couldn't let that happen. He jumped, and barely got his back feet on the stable ice as the weak ice behind him broke.
Diego pawed the ground. If he wanted to make it, he'd have to risk it. He had never jumped that far before. He braced himself, then pounced. He latched onto the ice with his front paws, his back ones dangling uselessly.
Manny looked back and saw this.
"Hold Pinky!" Not waiting for an answer, he shoved the kid in Sid's claws and rushed back to help his fallen comrade.
He inched his way to Diego, stretching his trunk out. Noticing the rapidly melting ice, he kept his distance. His trunk wrapped around Diego's paw a second before the ice broke under the tiger. Diego flinched as steam brushed up against him and latched onto Manny's trunk, claws unconsciously coming out.
Manny's eyes went down to the ice beneath him. It was melting and breaking. Connecting eyes with Diego, he saw a rush of emotion in his lime green eyes. Worry, guilt, regret, shame, panic, and pleading. He couldn't let this tiger die. He wasted no time in throwing the cat over his shoulder just as the ice broke beneath him.
Diego grunted quietly as he landed. His head snapped up when Sid shouted, "Manny!"
He saw Manny fall with a trumpet. A few seconds later, Manny flew through the air with another trumpet. He fell to the ground, landing with a thud.
Sid rushed forward. "Manny! Manny! Manny!"
"You'restandingonmytrunk," Manny muttered, his eyes half-lidded.
"What? What? I can't hear you."
"You're standing on my trunk."
Sid jumped off. "You're okay! You're okay!"
"Why did you do that?" Diego asked, lying in the same spot out of shock. "You could have died trying to save me."
The answer shocked him even more. "That's what you do in a herd. You look out for each other."
The guilt made tears come to his eyes.
"Well, thanks."
"I don't know about you guys, but we are the weirdest herd I've ever met."
*-KTKK-* ~Kitty~
"I can't wait to get my claws in that mammoth," Zeke said, twitching.
Mariana glanced at him, confused, but she kept her mouth shut. Touching the scratch on her face, she remembered not to ask these sabers questions. Lenny was the only one she could ask, and he told her to ask when they were alone, and he wasn't the brightest flower in the field.
"No one touches the mammoth until I get that baby," Soto glared. Mariana shrunk, even though the glare wasn't directed at her. What baby?
Zeke acted as though he didn't hear him. "First, I'll slice its hindquarters into sections. I'll put the white meat in one pile and...-"
"Knock it off," Lenny ordered. "I'm starving."
"Next, the shoulders," he said, ignoring the other saber. "Occasionally tough, but extremely juicy."
"I told you to knock it off!" Lenny shouted, going to scratch Zeke. Mariana flinched. If it was one thing she learned from this group, it was that they were extremely violent. Even Lenny, no matter how nice he was to her.
"Save your energy," Soto ordered. "Mammoths don't go down easy. There's only one way to do it." He started to back Lenny into the wall. "First, you have to force it into a corner." The others joined him after Lenny bumped into the wall. "Cut off its retreat. And when you three have it trapped, I'll go for the throat."
Lenny gulped and grabbed his throat.
Mariana whimpered at the images put into her head.
"Shut it, kid," Oscar ordered. She complied, not wanting to get hit again.
*-KTKK-* ~Kitty~
Diego lead them through an ice storm, braving the harsh wind. From behind him, he heard Manny shout, "Guys, we gotta get this kid outta the wind!"
He saw a cave-like opening ahead that would shield them from the hellish winds. He lead them to it. He couldn't get Manny's words from earlier out of his mind. Did he really think that they were all a herd? He was considered family?
'Thanks, Manny,' Diego thought bitterly. 'That makes me feel less guilty.'
"How much further?"
Diego glanced at Manny, then at Half Peak. "Three miles."
"I'm beat," Sid yawned. "We'll get there in the morning." He grabbed a rock and started scribbling on the rock.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm putting sloths on the map!"
Diego snorted.
"Why don't you make it realistic and draw him lying down?" Manny asked with a smile.
Diego decided to play, too. "And make him rounder."
Manny grabbed the rock from Sid and drew a large stomach on the sloth. "Perfect."
"I forgot how to laugh," Sid said sarcastically. He scratched the picture out, only to have sparks fly onto a pile of sticks and leaves and make a fire. "I'm a genius!" he shouted, kissing the rock.
"From now on, you'll have to refer to me as Sid, Lord of the Flame!" Sid boasted.
"Hey, Lord of the Flame... your tail's on fire," Manny informed.
Sid panicked and started running around. Diego sat up and pulled Sid into a mound of snow, putting out the fire. "Thank you. From now on, I'm gonna call you Diego-"
"Lord of Touch Me and You're Dead." After a pause, Diego smiled. "I'm just kiddin', you little knucklehead," he said, pulling Sid into a nuggie.
"Hey Lovebirds!" Diego's head snapped up at the voice of Manny. "Look at this."
Pinky was standing up, stumbling to walk. 'His first steps...' Diego thought, remembering Mariana's.
"I don't believe it."
Sid smiled. "Come here, you little biped. Come here, you little wormy-worm. Come to Uncle Sid."
Diego's eyes widened when Pinky changed his course toward him. "No, no, no, no, no, no. This way. This way," he said, pointing to Sid. "No, no, no. No, go to him. Go to him."
Pinky stumbled onto Diego's paws. He looked up at the tiger and giggled. He had the same brown, innocent eyes his daughter had. Diego cleared his throat. "Uh, good job. Keep practicin." He nudged him back over toward Manny.
"Look at that," Sid said as he sat by Diego on a piece of bark. "Our little guy is growing up."
"Alright, come on. Sleep time, lumpy," they heard Manny say as he grabbed Pinky with his trunk.
"Look at that, big pushover," Sid said, glancing at the tiger. "You know, Diego, I've never had a friend who would risk his life for me."
"Yeah, Manny's... he's a good guy." Sid had no idea how much guilt he had just installed in the tiger.
"Yeah, he is... Well, good night!" Sid turned over, falling asleep instantly.
Diego looked at Half Peak, guilt shining in his glowing eyes. These animals and that human didn't deserve the fate Diego was leading them toward. But he was doing this for his daughter. He had to do this, to save her! He had to! Determination and guilt in his heart, he fell into a restless sleep.
*-KTKK-* ~Kitty~
Once again, LEAVE YOUR SUMMARIES! BEST ONE GETS TO BE USED!
Stars and Boulevards,
*-KTKK-* ~Kitty~
