An Ice Age FanFic: A Demon in the Midst

Hello All! Back again! Sorry for the long wait, but I have been on holiday! (some of this was written on a train!) In this chapter, we are back to present time, (thank goodness!) and this is where the herd much reach safety, if they don't want to become infected with Diego's curse. Desprete, they seek expert help, from Abu, the wise orangutan, (the only character in this story I own). This is the chapter where everything is explained properly. Will they reach a refuge in time? P.S: Diego's demon-curse is from the Anime Studio Ghibli film, "Princess Mononoke", and I also got the idea of the cursed black slug on the magic seal from "Spirited Away." I do not own that either, nor the demon-it might get a little scary, and afterwards, Diego is going to get, badly hurt- yeah, sorry if it gets a bit too surreal! I hope you enjoy it anyway though! Again, please review to tell me what you think! :)

Chapter 9: Where Everything Becomes Crystal Clear

San came flying down towards them. She grabbed hold of Sid's hand, and they both made a running leap, barely just dodging the monster that was chasing them. Manny could see it much more clearly now, as it came into view properly. The black ooze. The bloody tendrils. The feirce, firey eyes that Manny had almost thought he recognised, peircing into his soul. The eyes were now just evil little red pinpricks of light, escaping from underneath all that black goo slithering like a snake out of the creature's body.

With one last jump from the ground, almost in slow-motion, San and Sid flew from the hill, and went soaring through the air, and landed, caught by Manny, who gripped them tightly in his trunk, and had no intention of letting them go.

With that, Manny took off, followed by his mate Ellie, sprinting across the valley. San was shaking very much, she pratically hugged Manny's trunk, hanging on for dear life. No matter what, she was not going to let herself slip.

"What is that thing?" gasped Manny as they ran for their lives.

"It's- Diego!" replied San. She was panting so hard, that she had to take a breath between words, she could hardly speak.

Sid on the other hand, looked like he was probably never going to speak again. He was wheezing worse than he had been the day he had spotted the "thing", in the forest. Both dripping with sweat from running so hard, they both looked liked they were in danger of collapsing, so Manny held them higher above, away from whatever was wanting them for lunch.

"Diego?!" panted Manny, "What do you mean?!"

"That, thing, it's Diego!" said San.

"That thing is Diego?! You mean, Diego is the monster?!"

"No! It isn't a monster, it's a demon! I've seen it before! It takes the form and shape of an animal, it takes over their body and soul! Don't you see?! He's possessed! It's him, but it's not him! He doesn't know what's going through his mind!"

Manny was absaloutly flabbergasted. He was finding this all very difficult to take in. So, while he was away, Diego had become a demon?! Sure, he had heard of the demons before, everybody had, but he thought it was just a myth! No more than a creepy bedtime story to scare little kids into behaving themselves. He had always been pretty sceptic of all means of fictional things and beings, and and spent most of Peaches' childhood trying to keep her away from the forest, which he presumed was full of other dangerous beasts, wolves and bears and wild dogs-things he thought were much more importent than beliveing in olden day fairy-tales. Yet here he was, being chased by the most terrifying thing on earth., which was concentrating on only one thing.

Killing them.

Manny went faster, as San regained her strength on his large furry back. Sid was over the side, and was threatning to vomit, and that certainly made Manny go a lot faster! They all ran, mothers clutching their babies and children to their chests, and birds flying high above the canopy of the treetops, not wanting to look back, for anything. San closed her eyes, still burrying her face in Manny's fur. She could not belive this was happening. The last animal she knew, who had that curse, had died a very slow, and painful death. She shuddered, thinking about Nago, the great boar god, his remains, still lying in the field beside the Emishi human village, where he had lived his afterlife in pure misery.

She didn't want Diego to go the same way, but at the moment, there wasn't much they could do to help him, if they approached him now, they may as well be engraving their own coffins. "We have to get everyone to safety!" shouted San, over all the noise. "Where?!"shouted Manny in reply, "there's no cave or any means of shelter for miles!" San started scouraging the area, looking for somewhere to huddle everyone to a better place, anywhere but where they were now.

She found Ellie and Peaches, nervously darting through the crowd of terrified animals. Peaches was nearly in tears. "Mom, we have to get everyone out of here, now!" Ellie was despretly trying to calm down the frantic animals as they raced past her.

"Everyone! Please, form an orderly position! Stay calm, don't panic!" "Mom, isn't there a cave nearby?"

"No, sweetie, there's nothing-" but even as she said this, she saw the forest up ahead. They could hide amongst the trees, they looked thick enough.

"Manny!" she called out to her mate.

"Ellie! I'm coming, don't worry!"

"Dad! Dad!" screamed Peaches, "we've gotta help the others!"

"Not now, Peaches, we've got to focus on helping ourselves!"

"Manny!" panted Ellie, "there's a cluster of trees over there, maybe they could keep us all safe!"

"Ellie, no! It's too long to run, we'll never make it time!"

"Yes, we will!" said Peaches, "it's worth a try Dad, we can make it! Please, trust me!"

Manny looked at the trees- and then his daughter. The trees, were their last hope, all they had left.

"Okay," he said at last, "let's move out!" They started sprinting toward the trees, shouting at the other animals to get a move on.

"Go! Go!"

"Into the trees!"

"Hurry! You have to get to the forest!"

When Manny looked back at Diego, he caught a glimpse of his claws-four inches sharp, and scratching the ground.

Some took the advice and followed them, others still remained hysterical. Scattering in all directions and screaming. The rest of them all took action. The possums sat cowering on each of Ellie's tusks, and Peaches could no longer hold in her tears.

"We, should have listened to Uncle Sid!" she sobbed. A pleased sound came from the sloth that was hanging off Manny's back, and though he hated to admit it, Manny knew that Sid had been right all along. About the monster, about the horror of it all,about everything. The trees were nearer now, they could reach out and touch their low hanging branches, feel the crunch of pine needles under their feet. They had done it! They had escaped into the trees!

Everyone was in such a state, panting and sweating and shaking. Louis and his parents had followed them, and were removing debris and dirt from their hair and fur. Some of the other animals were shivering, as the ground underneath their feet was crisp with frost. Everyone was so worried about the whole situation that they had failed to notice Sid was vomiting silently from behind a bush. There was an awkward silence-and then Manny asked the stupidest question in the entire world.

"Is Everybody Alright?"

"Alright?!" bellowed a start, "we were almost killed by your reckless stunt back there!"

"We were, actually," added Crash.

"Yeah," chimed in Eddie, "and we know all about reckless stunts!"

"Well, we're safe NOW, aren't we?!"

"But what about Diego?" said San. Manny, in his rant had forgotten about their saber friend.

"I-I don'tknow, San," replied Manny, heplessly, "so, you say, you've seen this before, then?"

"Yes, I have," San replied sadly. She told them the story of Nago, and about how after he was shot with an arrow, it had cured his curse-but at a terrible price. When she had finished, everyone was speechless. San could see fear in Ellie's lime green eyes.

"But-but-" she stammered unable to get the words out. Manny comforted his mate. "Don't worry, Ellie," he told her, "we're going to be just fine in here."

"No we won't!" protested the angry start, "we'll starve!"

"Or, suffocate!" added a bird.

"We'll all perish!" groaned a glyptodon.

Sid whimpered, and San did her best to tell him without words that everything was going to be alright. At that moment, there was comotion coming from outside the trees. They all kept deadly silent, and Manny motioned to them all to get back. From out of the corner of their eyes, they spotted something move-or rather, slither-into the valley, next to the clearing of trees they were hiding in. The demon crouched down, and that was when they saw him.

Diego.

Everyone standing in the clearing gasped. Crash and Eddie's mouths dropped open, as the writhing black goop, removed itself of his body, only for an instant, revealing that same orange-tan fur. His eyes were half-closed, and his teeth contained flecks of the black tendrils, he started shaking, all four of his legs wobbling, and about to give way.

"Diego?!" Ellie gasped, in disbelif. "But Dad, how?!" asked Peaches, with a look of shock on her face. Sid stood agast, trembling, and all Manny and San could do was stand there, not able to look anywhere else. Diego looked like he was in a lot of pain, and worst of all, thick veins, like tree-roots were starting to appear all over him. "He's become a demon," said San, softly.

Peaches turned to her father. "But, Dad," she said, "you told me they wern't real! You said they were just a fairy-story!" "Well, apparently I was wrong," sighed Manny.

Then, all in a flash, Diego's body began to grow over with black again, creeping over his body, across his eyelids. They could see he was trying to fight it, but to no avail. The demon finally won, and then something horrible happened.

The ooze emitted a ghastly stench, that had them all holding their noses. It was much worse then what San and Sid had smelt out in the forest. The pungent aroma filled the air, turning it deadly and toxic. Crash and Eddie started to gag, so Ellie covered their mouths so they wouldn't breath it in. As for the rest of them, they covered their whole nasal area, not wanting a single whiff to sear their nostrils.

All of a sudden, it stopped and Diego turned to look at them, anger in his face. They all froze. Diego swayed where he was, and the red of his eyes, turned to a startling shade of white. San had to cover her mouth to stop herself screaming, because Diego opened his mouth in a snarl, and blood trickled from his mouth. Dark, and deep red, it fell to the ground in a stream, making a river of blood all around him. But the worst part was that he didn't stop there. He went on bleeding, oozing from his body and from his feet, seeping deep into the ground. He swayed some more, and then fell, with a loud thud onto the ground.

He twitched where he lay, only allowing more blood to escape from his body. That was when San lost it.

"No! NO!" she screamed, running out of the trees and giving them all away.

"San, NO, DON'T!" Manny yelled after her, "DON'T TOUCH HIM!"

San paid no attention and knelt down beside the body of their friend. The bloody tendrils had started to force their way out again, adding to the hurt. She brushed them off despretely, not wanting anymore to grow.

"Diego! DIEGO!" she screamed, "CAN YOU HEAR ME, DIEGO?! DON'T LET YOURSELF TURN INTO THIS! DON'T LET YOURSELF BECOME A DEMON!" She yelled the words over and over again until her voice was hoarse. She tried to turn him over, but when she looked at her hands, blood came away on her fingers. She stifled a scream, and tried to get him to calm down, even when he kept thrashing about. The others thought it now safe to come in closer from the trees, but the other animals scattered. Manny came running first, quickly followed by Ellie, Peaches, the possums, Louis and Sid. Manny intervened first, and maneged to pull a screaming San off of Diego, who by now looked weak and ragged.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NOOO!" San started fighting, but the others just kept pulling her back. Manny turned to the possums.

"Quick! You guys, go get Abu! He'll know what to do!"

"On it!" they chorused, and sped away as quick as they could to try and find their ape.

Abu was the wise and holy guru that hepled the animals of the valley with their problems. In this case it was a big one. He had also been known to heal wounds, and to create magical medicines that really did work. He offered advice, be it with family or relationships, and brought peace among others. He was their last hope.

Diego had soon stopped writhing, and by now, had one half of him orange fur, the other half, a blackish shape. He didn't look very well, and his eyes were now shut tight. San released from Ellie's trunk, amd stepped back panting.

"What do we do now?" Louis finally asked.

"Crash and Eddie have gone to get Abu," explained Manny.

"The wise shamen -ape?" said Ellie.

"That's him," replied Manny. San waited a moment, to make sure the possums were gone, and then she burst into tears.

"Oh, honey," said Ellie, wrapping her trunk around San, "I know, I know."

"It's not fair," whispered San, burying her face into Ellie's fur, and then she yelled it. "It's not fair!" She feircely wiped away her tears. Sid patted her on the shoulder. "It'll be okay, San, don't worry," he said, although he didn't sound very convinced himself.

A while later, Crash and Eddie returned with Abu, the wise orangutuan. He was a large, bulky ape with amber fur, and sleepy brown eyes. He knew a soloution to everything, and the herd hoped he knew what to do about this.

"We've found him!" called Crash. Abu made his way over in lumbering steps to Diego.

"Aah, good day, Manfred. Elizabeth. I remember you coming to ask me for advice on behalf of your newborn child, whom I see is now a beautiful grown-up mammoth. Now, these two here, tell me that your friend has become quite injured."

"Yes, that's right," nodded Manny.

"May I see the patient?" The animals stepped aside to let Abu through. They noticed that he was carrying a lot of funny looking things. A plant that towered over their heads, a handful of white lily flowers, and weirdest of all, tiny rocks and stones, all different shapes and sizes. He was surprisingly calm when he saw Diego, lying there, still bleeding. The tendrils had shrank, but the damege had still been done.

"Diego," he whispered. Manny's ears suddenly pricked up.

"Wait, you know him?!"

"I have known him ever since he was a young cub," replied Abu, starting to lay out the rocks and stones, first around him, and then around Diego. He lifted him up slightly, to put the rocks and stones under his body, before lighting a fire, heating them. "These will keep him warm," he explained. He sat down in his circle, before handing out the herd member each a white lily. "Here, chew these," he ordered.

"What are they?" asked Peaches, curiously toying with one of the plants.

"These, my dear are Lilium candildum," Abu stated, "they will prevent you from infection if any of this tiger's curse has maneged to weasel it's way inside of you."

"Curse?" whimpered Crash.

"Indeed."

The other animals didn't argue, and popped the sweet, vanilla-tasting flower into their mouths. They tasted nice, but somewhat strange.

"Lilium candildum is also good for treating wounds and burns. I can see this young lady here has hurt her paws rather badly."

San looked down at her bloody hands. She had noticed that they had started to burn.

"Here," said Abu, handing her an extra flower, "rub this on them. It has been known for it's magical healing qualities of the skin."

San did as he had instructed and rubbed the flower on her hands, which by now, were beginning to bubble rather nastily. The soft, white petals soothed them almost instantly. Abu scattered a few across Diego's limp body. Then, he tore up the large plant and stretched that across Diego as well. When he had finished, he looked upon the motionless sabre with a mixture of sadness and disapointment.

"Oh, Diego, what have you gotten yourself into?"

Then he turnd to the herd. "Now, I must ask you all, did you know at all what was going on?"

Everyone shook their heads. Abu seemed to be nodding, and taking mental notes.

"Well, actually," gupled Manny, "I did-have, a-very strange dream about something, scary."

"Strange in what way?"

"Er-well," stammered Manny, unable to respond, so Ellie helped him.

"I had a nightmare too," she told Abu, "there was a big, black shape in it."

"I had a-n-night, t-t-terror," quivered Sid.

"Me, too," said San, "it had this evil twisted black thing in it, just like Ellie said."

"Intersting," muttered Abu, "so, you all had the same dream?"

"Pretty much," answered Peaches.

"I-I, had a dream about something, t-t-terrifying," shuddered Louis, "I was with Peaches, and we were both shouting at Diego, can't imagine why."

Abu paused for a moment, then continued to ask them questions.

" I see. Was there any actual sighting of this beast?"

"I saw it," said Sid, rather proudly, Manny thought, "with my own two eyes!"

"Us too!" chimed in Crash and Eddie.

"And, me!" added San, "there was some tracks down in the forest, near the falls."

Peaches jumped. "That's where we were yesterday! And my friends all said that they thought they saw something weird going on near there! And call me crazy, but I felt I was being watched walking through that forest!"

"Abu?" Ellie turned to the orungutan who sat in his circle of stones and was thinking deeply. He pondered for a while, and then said, "You are all Diego's closest friends and family, aren't you?" There was a mixed reply of "Yes."

"And he'd never do anything to hurt you?"

"Well," started Crash. "We can get on his nerve's sometimes," finished Eddie, "but underneath all that hard-stone, tiger, there's a soft, old pussy-cat!"

Thank goodness Diego wasn't concious to hear that, Eddie thought to himself.

"Hmm," said the ape, "tell me, does Diego have a mate? Or an admirer?"

"Shira!" Manny remembered, " she's his girlfriend! She's still down at the lake." Abu bent down so he waslevel with the possums. "Could you two kindly go down to the lake and fetch this Shira please?" he told them, "we need her, too."

Crash and Eddie both saluted, "Yes, sir!" and then raced off to go find the saberess.

Shira sat looking out across the pale blue lake, as it glistened in the moonlight. Waves ofgreen pondweed floated on the surface of the crystal water, creating small circles coming toward her. Although pretty, the water could not compare to the sheer beauty of her sapphire eyes. Suddenly, the sound of scampering feet came from behind her. She growled.

"No, no, Shira, it's only us!" Eddie reassured her. The tigress spun round, and saw Crash and Eddie, the two opossums whom she hadn't seen for days, standing behind her, looking very tired and out of breath.

"Oh, sorry, hello. What do you guys want?" she said, coldly. The two panting possums finally maneged to make real words and tell her everything. "It's-it's, Diego," they told her. Shira sat up. "What?! He's Here?!" "Yes, but he's badly hurt!" cried Eddie. "And we need you to come help him!" said Crash. "Follow us!" they both said. Shira ran the wind after them, sprinting to valley. Whatever it is, she told her herself, No matter how bad it is, I've got to be strong. Strong for him...

Back at the valley, the other herd-members were all describing what they had seen in their dreams and in reality, Sid now acting as though he was some sort of hero, and Manny rolling his eyes, as he tried to make himself sound far more heroic then he had been.

"So, then San got scared, and I had to carry her all the way back here!" he bragged. "Oh, please," laughed San, "that did not happen, and even if it did, do you honestly think that I'd let you pick me up?!" Just then, they saw two tiny black and white shapes, followed by a much bigger whiteish-grey figure, running towards them. Shira had returned. The herd were all so happy to see her, but there was no time for "long time, no sees," as they had work to do.

Poor Crash and Eddie, who had done so much running today, were lifting up by Ellie and placed on each of her tusks. Shira skidded to a halt, beside the mammoths.

"Where is he?" she said searching the valley.

"So, you must be Shira," said Abu.

"Um, yes. I, am. Where's Diego?" Abu looked saddened. "I'm afraid, my dear,you may not like, what you are about to see."

"What?!" Abu stepped aside, and Shira saw Diego, lying almost dead on the ground, droplets of dried blood all around him.

"Agghhhh! D-Diego?!" she sobbed, "No!" She looked at the mammoths. "What, what happened?" When she was told she began to cry. "Demons?! It simply can't be!" Abu examined Diego's body.

"It's a demon alright," sighed Abu, "and it's a very nasty one. It is based off of hatred, and anger, unleashing terror on everyone. Nago, the great boar god was unlucky enough to pass by one of these. It ate him alive, before he attacked a human settlement. This one, once attachingitself to a host, spreads throughout the body, coarsing through the veins, like a virus. It has crept into his body and poisoned him." Everyone remained silent. Abu looked at Shira. "Did you experience this strange dream?" "Dream? What dream?" she replied, "I'm sure I did, have a nightmare about Diego, beside the lake, and then when I woke up, I was half in the water. Was I pushed?"

"It is possible," replied Abu, "now, the reason for this nightmare, is because since you are all techically Diego's family, the demon has planted it's fear inside of you-metaphorically speaking that is," he added, catching the look of dismay on Crash's face. "Peaches, my dear, the feeling you had of another pair of eyes in the forest, watching you was true. Anyone else who experienced this, the demon was trying to latch itself on to you first, but since Diego was away, it cornered him first, instead."

"But what about the storms?" asked Manny.

"Only another example of the demon's great anger, sending the warning signs, before it's attack."

Alarm started ringing inside San's head. "But, but I saw Diego in the forest the on the day, a few hours, before he left. But when I returned to the valley, he was already there, except he was behind me when I left him wandering in the fields, he couldn't arrived back before me, it's just impossible!"

"That is because my dear," Abu told her, "that the mononoke is a strange, unatural force, responsible for many-a strange and unexplaind events. Such as the seasons changing. The spirits help with that, or the way the river flows, heading out to sea, they help with that too."

He looked at Diego for a moment, then sighed, and turned to Manny.

"Tell me about Diego," he asked, " it's been a while, and I'm afraid, I haven't known him since the very last time I saw him, when he was very young."

Manny nodded, "Alright," he cleared his throat, "Well, Diego, wasn't like the way he is now before he met us. We helped each other, only me and Sid at the time to return a human baby to the Iron Town settlement. Then along the way, we met Diego, and San, two fighters, whom bothplanning an attack on the humans together. 'Course, Diego didn't really want to help us, he was only leading us into an ambush. And then there was Soto-"

"Soto?!" Abu cut him off, "surely you don't mean-"

" Well, yes Diego's old pack-leader, right?"

"He wasn't just a packleader, nor just a sabre, shuddered Abu, "he wasa god, leader of te sabre clan, good friends with your mother Moro, San-for a while anyway."

"My mother was smart enough to know Soto for who he was," spat San, "a thief, a lier and a coward! Sure, she hepled the sabres, but Soto was a disgrace to the great forest spirit!"

Manny told him about how Diego stood up for them, and fought Soto, getting himself badly injured in the process. Then about how Manny had killed him, to which Ellie gasped.

"So he's dead then, Manfred?"

"Yes, he was impaled by icicles."

"Oh, thank goodness-" Abu stopped, "sorry, but that Soto was the worst. I'm not surprised Diego has this awful curse. Hanging about with the likes of him, Soto probably filled hisheart with hate, just asthis has done" He stared upon Diego. "And to think, Diego didn't do anything to stop him, what with being a prince and all."

Everyone froze.

"Uh-what, Prince?!"

Abu looked taken aback.

Why, surely, he must have told you!" he said, sounding rather shocked, "after all, I'd be surprised if he didn'tmention anything."

"Did you know about this, Shira?" Ellie asked the saberess.

Shira shrugged, uncomfortably. "Diego doesn't like to discuss his past," she explained, "he likes to keep things a secret."

Boy do I know how that feels, thought Manny.

"Diego was a prince?!" exclaimed Sid, "I didn't know that! He never said a thing to me!"

"Prince of what?" asked a curious San.

"Well, my dear," said Abu, sitting down in his circle again, "I shall tell you..."

Diego is a prince?! Who knew?! Not even I saw that one coming, this was a very recent idea. First of all, I would like to apologise for the sheer length of this chapter. The whole idea of Diego being a prince, was actually quite last minute. I hope it was a good add to the mixture, and all-in-all, relevent to the story itself. I just wanted to make this intersting. Second of all, sorry if the chapter got gory with all the blood, (well, I did warn you!) Hope it doesn't put you off. Third of all, I would not recomend putting any of Lilium candildum in your mouth. Although, not poisonous, and very beneficial to the skin's irrations, they are NOT nice to eat. I doubt flowers are part of a human's stable diet. The characters only did it, because they're animals, (well San, half animal,) and theplant is very heplful. Thank you for reading, (if you're still here,) and please don't forget to post your reviews! :)