CHAPTER 6
RELIVING THE PAST
BEFORE YOU BEGIN READING, PLEASE READ THE UPDATED CAST LIST.
MARTY: BEN STILLER
RANDOLPH: CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER
CHIPPY: JACK BLACK
THE MYSTERIOUS HUMAN (NAME WILL BE ANNOUNCED LATER IN THE STORY): MORGAN FREEMAN
THE MYSTERIOUS SABER CAST VOICE WILL REMAIN ANONYMOUS.
CONTINUE ENJOYING THE STORY.
SWITCHBACK COVE TRAIL.
TIME: SUNSET.
The herd made it to an open space in the middle of the woods. Buck announced that they would be stopping there for the night. Everyone started settling down for the night. Sid began making a fire, Manny went to get some logs for the humans to sit on, Diego was helping Shira get comfortable for the night, Ellie and Peaches were having a chat while getting some berries, Julian was collecting more firewood to throw into the fire while Brooke watched and learned how her husband made such a warm fire. The twins continued looking for their wooden swords while Teddy was mashing up a mango for Granny, who once again lost her teeth. Alejandro was settling down for the night as he was beginning to fall asleep. Buck was putting Bronwyn in her stroller and kissing her goodnight. The dino birds were settling down comfortably in the trees.
The humans were pretty much keeping to themselves. Roshan and Kai had went over to the stream nearby and caught some fish for the night. Elphina was making sleeping cots for herself and the other three humans. Cheril was looking through her pack and found her hairbrush that was made of hay and wood. As she was fixing her hair back to the way it was, her pack fell and caused everything to fall out. Once she placed everything back in the pack, her eyes widened. The stuffed saber wasn't in there. She even looked all over the place, but couldn't find it anywhere. She almost lost hope when she felt a tap on her shoulder.
Cheril turned around to see it was Shira. "I believe this belongs to you." The female saber was holding out the stuffed you.
Cheril respectfully took it from her. "Thank you. I've had this since I was little. I don't know what I would do without it."
"Not wanting to get into your personal business or anything, but why does it almost look a lot like me?"
Cheril sighed. "Well, she reminds me of a saber that risked her life to save me after my family was killed off by a pack of angry wolves. At first, I was afraid of her because I had no idea what sabers were capable of. After some time, I grew used to her. A week after everything happened, she took me to another tribe where I met Elphina. The old female Elder has been my caretaker ever since. She even made me this stuffed toy."
"Did you ever find out what that saber's name was?"
"No. All I remember was that she was a female." Cheril shook her head. "You probably wouldn't even know who she was. Might not even be her. You look a lot different."
"Might have something to do with my pregnancy."
"No. I don't remember the saber I knew having shell earrings in only one ear. In fact, she didn't have earrings at all."
Shira sighed. She didn't always have earrings in one ear. That was the truth. Once she joined Gutt's crew, Raz had helped to place them in there so she could look more like a pirate. Another memory also came into place. She was wanted out of a pack for a certain reason. She didn't choose to leave. She was forced to leave. Why, someone would ask? Because she helped a young girl find safety in a new place. Could it be that Cheril may be that same girl? Shira shook her head at the thought. It couldn't be her. This girl was all grown up. She was practically a woman now. Maybe that's who she is. The problem is Shira couldn't remember the name of the little girl she saved from...now she can't even remember what it was she saved the girl from.
Shira walked back over to Diego, who shot to his four paws to help her lie down. Shira rolled her eyes. "Diego, I'm not carrying that much weight. You don't always have to help me lie down."
"I know, but I am a gentleman," Diego said, "So what was going on over there?"
"Nothing. I just gave her that toy back and she thanked me for giving it back to her. Forgive me for saying this, but she's kind of too old for toys."
"You're never too old for anything."
Shira didn't know if she should tell Diego that Cheril looked familiar to her in a way, but she decided against it and started falling asleep.
Julian started putting leaves and hay on the ground to make a bed for him and Peaches. He looked to see his wife helping the younger female human pick up the rest of her belongings that fell out of her pack. His expression turned sour as he stared at the human. He didn't want to relive what happened in his past. Whatever happened caused him to never trust humans again. Wouldn't even look them in the eyes. He continued to fix the bed.
Peaches turned around and saw Julian with a not so nice expression on his face. She knew things were different with him ever since the humans came into the equation. It was time they had a chat.
Peaches walked over to her husband. "Julian, can I talk to you for a second?"
"Yeah, sure, babe," Julian said, "Hey, can you hand me those leaves over there?"
Peaches picked the leaves up and handed them to Julian. "I've noticed you've been acting different since the humans joined up with us."
"So?"
"So you're not being very nice and just accepting them until we can stop this storm. You even voted to make them go and that's just not like you."
"Peaches, I've just had bad experiences with humans. You don't know what they're capable of."
"Some humans aren't like that. Those humans that are with us right now seem peaceful. At least that's my opinion of them." Julian continued making the bed, pretending not to hear his wife's opinion. Peaches sighed. "What happened that made you hate them so much?"
"They attacked my family."
"I'm sure your family was able to fight back. You know how us mammoths are. Some of us lose our temper easily."
"It was different with me. My dad was taken from me by humans."
Peaches eyes widened. She wasn't sure how to respond to that. "Oh, I'm sorry, Julian. I didn't know. You never really told me much about your dad except that he was a really good guy to hang around with."
Julian lowered his head. "He was. Can we just drop the subject? I don't wanna talk about savages anymore."
"Stop calling them that. Not all humans are the same. Maybe if you just get to know them, you-"
"I don't want to get to know them! As long as they stay away from me, I'll be fine!"
Slapping Julian in the back of the head, Peaches pulled his ear. "As long as their staying with us, you are gonna respect them as if they are a part of this herd. Do you understand me?"
Julian groaned. "Yes, I understand. Can you let go of my ear now?"
"Ask me nicely."
Julian sighed. "Can you please let go of my ear?"
"Yes, I can." Peaches let go of her husband's ear.
Julian went back to fixing up the bed. He wished that Peaches would understand why he didn't feel comfortable talking about what happened to his father. That's not really the big reason why he hated humans. There was something else that got him to the point where humans were really savages.
Gertie and Roger were sitting upon the tree, waiting for their dad to return to dinner. Ever since Gertie started placing herself in solitude, Roger has pretty much kept his distance from her. He wasn't willing to get pushed off the tree or punched in the face. He could tell that something was wrong with his sister, but he was too afraid to ask. He was actually out with her in the Dinosaur World on the day she started acting the way she was now. They were just spending some time together as brother and sister and suddenly Gertie flew off somewhere and when she came back, she started acting like a brat. Roger tried to ask her what was wrong, but she told him to mind his own business and flew off without him. He had plans to tell his dad when it all started, but he wasn't sure if he should or not.
Roger lost his train of thought when he looked to see Kai kicking the tree. The young male bird looked down at the human. "Um, excuse me. Do you mind not kicking this tree? We're trying to settle down for the night."
"Hey, tell that big fat dude to come down here," Kai said.
"My dad's not here at the moment."
"No, I'm talking about the other one up there with you."
"You mean my sister?"
"Wait. That's a girl?"
"Yeah."
"I believe I just called a girl fat. She is, though. Why is she acting like a tomboy? Why is she so fat? She should start eating her fair share more often."
Gertie started growling and flew herself to Kai. She began punching him. "You think I'm fat? Well, you should look at yourself." She continued punching him until she saw a puddle of mud and slammed Kai in it. She placed her foot on his stomach and scooped up a pile of mud in her hand. "Eat this!" She started stuffing mud in his face, missing his mouth but enjoying the torture she was giving him. "Who's gonna be fat after this once I make you eat a bunch of dirt?"
Roger couldn't stand seeing what he saw any longer as he flew down and pushed Gertie off Kai. "Enough, Gertie. This is getting ridiculous. First it's ignoring everyone and now you just wanna pick a fight. I can't stand it anymore. Either tell Dad and I what's going on or just go and crawl into your little hole of darkness."
Gertie got all up in Roger's face, looking him straight in the eyes. "All I want is to be alone and think. Is that too much to ask?"
Roger shook his head. "No, and if that's what you wanna do, go ahead."
"Thank you." Gertie flew back on the tree.
Gavin came back with a wooden bowl full of fish. "Roger, what's going on here? I kept hearing a lot of yelling."
"Dad, I'm really starting to worry about Gertie," Roger said.
"Roger, when she's ready to talk to us, she'll come to us. Otherwise, just leave her alone. Give her some space." Gavin looked to see Kai lying in the mud. "Some humans act like pigs." Gavin flew back up in the trees.
Roger helped Kai out of the mud. "Sorry about my sister. She's been in a mood lately."
"I've never been scared of a girl before, but she scares me," Kai said.
"You'll get used to it." Roger patted Kai on the back.
Sid had just finished making the fire for everyone while Manny placed the last log on the ground for Sid to sit on. The male mammoth sat next to him as well, sighing peacefully.
"You know, Sid, you do a real good job making a fire for all of us at night," Manny said.
"Thanks, Manny," Sid said, "I just feel as though being Lord of the Flames really pays off."
"Well, might I say that your tail's on fire again."
"What?" Sid looked to see that his tail was indeed on fire. Diego knew the still and stopped it by smacking his paw on the sloth's tail, making the flames stop. Sid sighed in relief. "Thanks, Diego. What would I ever do without you?"
"You would probably get third degree burns all over your body," Diego said.
"Where did you learn to make fire, Sid?" Cheril asked, sitting with the herd.
"All I did was rub a stone against a cave wall," Sid said, "It made sparks and hit some sticks and poof it made fire."
"That's not how humans do it. I guests animals and humans are just different from each other in certain ways."
Roshan had returned with some fish, seeing that a fire had already been made. "Hey, Kai, thanks for making a fire."
"Kai didn't make it," Cheril said, "Sid did."
"You mean the sloth?"
"Yep," Manny said, placing his trunk around Sid's shoulder, "This guy."
Roshan didn't speak, but turned around to keep his eyes away from the herd. Cheril started becoming concerned for her friend. "Roshan, are you okay?"
A flashback suddenly came up into Roshan's mind.
FLASHBACK:
It was inside a cave. A fire was keeping the three mammals and the baby warm. The sloth was bragging about how he is known as the first mammal to know how to make fire.
"From now on you are to refer to me as Sid, Lord of the Flames," the sloth said proudly.
"Hey, Lord of the Flames," the mammoth said, "Your tail's on fire."
"What?" The sloth named Sid looked to see that his tail was on fire and began running around the cave in a frenzy, not knowing what to do.
END OF FLASHBACK.
Roshan shook his head. He then noticed that Cheril was calling his name. Turning around, he looked at his concerned friend. "Yeah, yeah, I'm alright. Nothing to worry about."
"Did you have another flashback?" Cheril asked.
"Yeah, but it's no big deal." He started making his way towards the fire with his bucket full of fish. "Hey, Kai, help me cook up these fish."
Manny walked over to Cheril. "Is he alright?"
Cheril sighed. "I don't know. Whenever he does that, I know a flashback comes into his mind. It doesn't normally happen unless something from his past has returned to remind him about something. It worries me."
"Does he ever talk about them?" Sid asked.
"Sometimes, but most of them makes him feel uncomfortable. I really need to figure out what's going on with him." Cheril started walking away, grasping her bag.
Sid looked at Manny. "You know, Manny, I remember the days when you, me and Diego took that little human baby home."
"You mean Pinky?" Manny asked.
"Yes. That's what we always called him. Pinky. The cutest little guy. We saved his life and then took him back to his tribe. I can't believe that was how we actually met. Then we started the herd and everything is wonderful now."
"Except for the fact that we once again have to save everyone from this storm."
"Well, we've been through peril before, but that's normal for us."
"Who wants fish?" Kai asked.
"Finally, I'm starving," Shira said.
"I thought you were asleep," Diego said.
"I was taking one of my catnaps to wait for dinner. These little guys really know how to work up an appetite." Shira walked over and say down as dinner was already being served.
Later that night, the herd was relaxing around the fire as they were all telling stories about their past adventures, letting the humans get to know who they were. After Sid told the story about how he was abducted by mini sloths, the humans began laughing at him.
"Mini sloths?" Cheril said, laughing, "How did they end up kidnapping you when your back was turned?"
"He was actually asleep when it happened," Diego said.
"You tried to bring a thousand years of bad juju to them just because they wanted to throw you into a pit of the lava," Kai said, "I guess everyone has their own beliefs of things."
"Well, my father didn't seem to understand that," Roshan said.
"Roshan, I believe it is time you stop mentioning about your father whenever the subject of beliefs is brought up," Elphina said.
"Well, it was his fault that we've lost pretty much our whole tried. Plus, mainly almost all of our domesticated wolves."
"Wait a second," Cheril said, "I just realized that Scarfy isn't with us."
"Where did that dumb wolf run off to this time?" Kai asked.
"His nose must still not be healed up from that cold of his," Elphina said.
"Scarfy!" Roshan called out, "Scarfy!"
"Roshan?" said a voice behind the bushes, "Where are you?"
"Check behind the bushes."
Scarfy stuck his head through the vegetation and saw his friends. "Guys, thank goodness I found you. I've been trying to track you all day. Looks like you found Elphina."
"Where were you?" Cheril asked.
"Well, when you guys said to split up, I went my own way," Scarfy explained, "Luckily, I don't have to deal with that cold anymore."
"So this is your pet?" Manny asked.
"Manny!" Ellie said sternly.
"Well, he is. For goodness sakes, he was raised by humans."
"Well, for a pet, he was able to get through the woods without being eaten," Diego said. Shira smacked him over the head. "Ow! I'm just saying that's a good thing. I was giving him a compliment."
"It's okay," Scarfy said, "I know I'm a pet. I have been ever since I was born. My mother was trained to be a pet and so was my father. They trained me to be one and to always be loyal to humans."
"Well, how do we know you won't eat us?" Manny asked.
"Eating mammoths is against the tribe's rules. It can create lots of bad juju."
"So you guys have never eaten a mammoth before?" Ellie asked.
"Nope," Roshan said, "Not even sloths."
"What about sabers?" Shira asked.
"I certainly don't. I don't know about the rest of these guys."
Cheril sighed. "The tribe hasn't hunted sabers since I came along. I was rescued by one, so the chief decided to leave them alone in honor of one saving me."
"Well, that's nice to know," Diego said.
"Why do you have that law, anyway?" Manny asked.
"Why are you trying to get in our business?" Kai asked.
"Kai, be nice," Cheril said.
"Okay, I'll tell him." Kai placed an arm around Roshan's shoulders. "This guy here is convinced that a mammoth, a sloth and a saber saved his life and brought him back home to his father."
"It actually happened," Roshan said, "Why don't you believe me, Kai?"
"Because there is no way that animals are willing to save a human," Kai said, "They hate us because we hunt them for food. I'm wondering why that saber didn't eat you the first chance he got."
"That's because he cared about me. Why do we always have to have this argument?"
"Because animals are stupid."
"Kai!"
"It's true. Deal with the truth."
Elphina knocked Kai over the head. "You do realize that we are surrounded by the creatures that roam Earth?"
Kai suddenly found this out and chuckled nervously. "Looks like I made a complete fool of myself."
"See, Peaches?" Julian said, "This is why I think of humans as savages."
"Julian, I thought we talked about this," Peaches said.
"We did. I just chose to listen to myself."
"Hey, I got an idea," Manny said, "Let's all go to bed. That sounds like something we all need."
"I made some nice cots for you three to sleep comfortably for the night," Elphina said. She looked to see that Roshan wasn't with Cheril and Kai anymore. "Where did Roshan go?"
"This guy ran him off," Cheril said, slugging Kai in the arm.
"I didn't mean for him to just walk off," Kai said.
"You really hurt his feelings."
"How did I hurt his feelings? Don't you understand how crazy it sounds to be rescued by screwball mammals?"
"No, it doesn't sound crazy. Have you forgotten that I was in that same situation as well?"
"Well, I guess that makes you crazy, too."
Cheril rolled her eyes. "You know, you're supposed to be his best friend, but clearly you haven't been acting like it."
"What do you want me to do? Believe him? That's something I plan not to do."
"You don't have to believe him if you don't want to, but at least stop telling him that he's crazy to believe such things."
"Like that's gonna happen."
Cheril sighed. "I'm gonna go talk to Roshan." Cheril made her way over to where Roshan was. He was standing over by the stream, trying to look at his reflection in the moonlight. She walked over to him. "Are you okay, Roshan?"
Roshan sighed, throwing a rock into the stream. "I don't get it. The more I speak about it, the harder it becomes for people to believe it. Tell me one person that will believe me."
"I do."
"That's different. You say you were rescued by a saber and I believe that because I was also rescued by a saber who became friends with the mammoth and sloth. In your case, you're different. Other than you, tell me somebody else that believes me."
"Elphina does."
"She's an Elder. She believes in anything. Do you know anyone else?"
"Your father."
Roshan didn't say anything at first. He placed his feet in the water, thinking about the night the storm hit and saw his own father get striked by lightning. The memory will always be burned inside him. What he said to his father. Their final moments together wasn't how it should've been. Roshan was hoping that his father would die peacefully on his deathbed and he would be by his side until his final breath. Instead, he was destroyed off the face of the Earth by the Elders who cursed him for breaking his own law. That was not how it should've been.
Roshan shook the thought out of his head. He figured Cheril was worried whether he had another flashback, but he turned to face her. "I'm sure he remembers. The mammoth and sloth did return me to him."
"Than that's somebody other than me or Elphina," Cheril said, "Plus, I'm sure the other males believe you."
"They always said they did. I just wish Kai would."
"Why should that matter? Kai doesn't have to believe you. You just have to prove it to him. I can always pick out his secrets when he starts to act like this. The only way you can prove it to him is by thinking hard and remembering who those mammals were."
"I know who they were. I just don't remember their names. Well, actually I just figured out one of their names."
"Which one?"
"The sloth. In the flashback I had earlier, he said his name was Sid. He also called himself Lord of the Flames."
"Wait a second. That male sloth out there said the same thing. Maybe him, Manny and Diego are the ones."
"I don't follow."
"Roshan, what other mammals do you know that can make fire besides Sid?"
"Nobody else that I know of."
"Then they could be the ones."
"Cheril, let's slow down a bit. Okay, let's not go making assumptions before seeing whether or not they are the mammals from my past. Let's take it one step at a time."
"Okay, but you'll see that I was right. Just don't listen to Kai. You'll prove it to him."
Roshan smiled. Cheril has always been there for him whenever he needed some sense put into him. Now was one of those moments. He gave Cheril a hug, something that was not really like him, but he did it anyway. Cheril hugged him back. It was only a moment later when Elphina caught them. "What are you two doing over there?"
The two teenagers gasped as they let go of each other. Roshan gave a nervous smile. "Nothing's going on. We were just talking and Cheril had said something exciting that made me end up hugging her out of excitement. That's all it was."
Elphina smiled. "Well, if that's all, then I suppose I can believe it. Now come. It is time for bed. Another day of travelling tomorrow."
"Yes, Elphina." Cheril started walking back to the campsite.
Roshan took one last look out at the horizon before walking back over to the others. Another day was coming. It was best to get some sleep.
SWITCHBACK COVE UNBALANCED MOUNTAIN INSIDE A CAVE AT THE BOTTOM.
TIME: NIGHT.
That night, the Mammal Gang were spending the night inside a small empty cave. The night air began to turn cold as the three villains were surrounded by a warm fire that Marty made for them. It looks as though Sid is not the only one that can create fire. There's going to be some competition ahead for sure.
The three mammals were waiting for the boss to return with a friend of his. They kept wondering who it could be. Even Chippy was going insane to see who it was. His laughing and giggling was becoming uncontrollable. "Oh, I can't wait to see who the boss is bringing. Maybe it's a female saber that's as crazy as I am. Don't get me wrong. That mammoth girl was cute and all, but I need somebody that's insane and crazy like I am."
"This is no time to be thinking about romance, you idiot," Marty said, "Whoever the boss brings back is gonna help us get back at that herd. Besides, that mammoth girl was part of the plan to get rid of us."
"Man, I hate being the stupid one."
"Hey, Randolph, do you see the boss out there yet?" Marty asked.
Randolph nodded. "I see a faint light out in the distance. That's probably him. Act like men, boys. We're about to have some company."
Walking up to the Mammal Gang was an older human. His eye color couldn't be seen well in the dark, but he looked to have a long gray beard upon his face that went down to his knees. He wore a long tan robe that covered all around his body except for his hands. His arms were covered with huge sleeves. It wasn't like he was strong or anything is what it looked to be. He looked to be about the age of an Elder. In one hand, he was holding a torch while carrying a walking stick in his other hand. He wore a pack that didn't seem to have much in it, but it may have for the human.
The older human walked over to the mammals. "I sense you have given the herd their warning."
"Yes, sir," Randolph said.
"Including the humans?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. I hope you didn't injure them."
"No, sir. Just a fair fight."
"Excellent. I knew I could count on you all to help do my bidding. Now I bring you the visitor from the other lands." The human moved away to reveal a male saber. "Boys, meet your new member."
The male saber had scars on the left side of his body, leaving that part bald. Not a single spot of dark orange fur could be seen. He had pretty much only one fang left since the other one looked like it was chopped off. His eyes were a cold green. Very horrifying for anyone to look into. Nothing was good looking about him. He looked bad and not in very good condition to do anything.
Randolph looked at the human. "This was the guy you brought in? Who is this?"
"All in good times will I answer your question," the saber said, "Just get used to me for now." He started walking away inside the cave.
Marty looked inside the cave, clearly unhappy with the guy his boss brought in. "This isn't who I was expecting, sir. How are we supposed to work with him if we don't even know who he is?"
"All in good time, Marty," the human said, "For now, we must rest and be prepared for tomorrow. Who that saber is will be a good mammal to get revenge on that herd. Especially when I will finally get revenge on the human that was part of the reason responsible for what happened to me in the past. Rest up, gentleman. Tomorrow is a new day." The Mammal Gang did as they were told and went to bed. The older human looked up at the moon chuckling evilly. "The chief may be gone now, but there's somebody else that needs to join him."
WELL, WE'VE MET THE BOSS, BUT WHAT IS HIS NAME AND WHAT DOES HE WANT? FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.
ALSO, IF YOU ARE A FAN OF MY ICE AGE SWITCHEROO STORIES, I HAVE A POLL UP TO SEE HOW MANY KIDS SID AND BROOKE WILL HAVE, INCLUDING THE GENDERS. IT WON'T BE UP LONG SO VOTE FAST.
WELL, SEE YOU FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER.
PLEASE REVIEW.
