Hey everybody! I hope you liked all the suspense happening in chapter 9! Well, now it's time for some things to get solved in chapter 10! I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 10: Sid and Diego again

"Oh, please wake up!" Eddie exclaimed as he put his paws on Sid's body.

"He needs some water," Crash suggested.

"I know, but where do we find some?"

Crash sighed, doubting about the answer, and walked a foot away.

Eddie followed, and looked at his brother sadly. "I'm afraid, Crash. What if Sid dies, and we'll never see Ellie again?"

"Don't say that, Eddie!" Crash started to shake his brother. "Don't you EVER say that!"

"Ok, but what do we do?"

"Hmm...lets start spitting in Sid's face."

"I don't think he'll like that, Crash."

"Who cares? He's unconscious."

"Oh yeah." Eddie smiled, ready to do Crash's idea. "Let's do it."

The two possums walked toward Sid, and looked at him curiously. He indeed was not in a nice sleep. He looked really bad, as if he would die any minuet. Crash and Eddie took a big gag, and spit into the sloth's face.

They looked at him curiously, but his eyes were still closed. "Dang it," Crash complained.

"What do we do now?"

"I don't know."

"Is he even breathing?"

"I don't know, I didn't hear any breathing." Crash gasped.

"Oh no! What do we do, Crash?"

"Why do I have to think? You never thought of anything."

"I'm in too much panic to think right now!"

"Me too!"

Eddie sighed angrily, and crossed his arms.

"Alright." Crash thought for a moment, trying to come up with an idea. "I got it! But you're totally going to gag once I tell you it."

"What is it?"

Crash went up to Eddie, and whispered something into his ear.

Eddie gasped, and jumped out of the way. "Oh, no way! I hate that idea!"

"But it's the only way to get him breathing again."

"Fine. Then YOU do it." Eddie pushed his brother toward Sid.

"No way, that's nasty. You do it." Crash pushed Eddie toward Sid.

"AHH! I don't even know SPR!"

Crash sighed.

"Do you?"

"No, but one of us has got to try."

"I don't think you should do that, Crash. It's way too dangerous."

"Nobody has to do anything," another voice came in.

The two possums turned their heads, and saw the two mammoths coming toward them. Ellie was leaning on Manny, who was helping her walk. "Ellie!" they both exclaimed, and ran over. They both jumped on her trunk and hugged her, as she grew a big grin.

"I'm so glad you're safe," Crash told his sister.

"Where's mama?" Eddie asked curiously.

"She's with Diego," Manny answered. "Do you still need help, Ellie?"

"I'm fine, Manny," Ellie answered gently.

"Are you sure? 'Cause I can still hold on to you if you need help."

"I'm fine."

Manny let go of Ellie gently, even though he was tempted to still hold on to her.

"We need to find mom," Crash went back to the original subject.

"Where are they, Manny?" Ellie asked her boyfriend.

"They're at a tree far that way."

"Let's go!" Ellie started to walk in the direction Manny pointed to.

"Wait!" both the possums yelled.

Ellie stopped and turned to the possums. "What?"

"Sid passed out," said Crash, as he pointed to the sloth.

That night, the whole herd was finally together, and they sat under a tree, still awake, and Sid finally woke up an hour later after they got to Diego and Sandy.

"I hope we find water soon," said Eddie.

"Me too," Crash agreed.

"When do you think we'll find some water, Manny?" Ellie asked.

Manny was silent for ten seconds, and finally made a sound. "I don't know. I didn't think that Sid would actually pass out, and now I know how dangerous this is."

"I thought you knew earlier."

"Well I did. But now I know more. I blame myself."

"Don't blame yourself, Manny," Sid finally said. "We're now together, and that's all that matters."

Even though Ellie was angry before about Manny's idea of traveling at the day, she still felt a little bad now, and knew that her idea was not right. But she didn't feel like telling it to anybody.

Right when Manny, Diego, and Sandy left the others earlier that day, Sid knew right away that he didn't choose the right side. But he didn't want to hurt Ellie's feelings, and he was willing to give it a try. But he chose the wrong idea, anyways.

Crash and Eddie seemed to do everything Ellie did. They looked up to their sister, who cared about them so much, even though she knew that they caused trouble a lot.

Diego was smart about choosing Manny's idea. And no matter how much he hated the arguing, he never expressed it. He never expressed anything, even though that Sid could predict it.

"I'm going to bed," Manny finally broke the silence, and walked on the other side of the big tree.

"Good night," Ellie said to Manny. "You guys should get some sleep, too," she looked at her brothers.

"Aww," Crash complained.

"Come on. I'm going to sleep, too."

"HMP!" Crash crossed his arms.

"We're not sleepy," Eddie said with a yawn.

"Come on, boys," Sandy finally said, pushing them ahead of her.

The possum brothers walked close to the tree, tiredly, and jumped up to hang up-side down. Sandy did it also, right after her sons were settled.

Ellie walked over, and gave a kiss night to all three possums with her trunk. "Good night."

"Good night, honey," Sandy said in a calm voice.

The mammoth walked at the corner of the tree, about three feet from Manny. She was still not sure of sleeping so close to him, yet, but over the day, she was feeling so close to him. She struggled as she looked at Manny while she lay there.

She then started to think about her mom. She couldn't believe that she was actually with her again. She didn't remember her mammoth mom much, because she was really young. But she remembered that dream she had about two nights ago. The true story of when she first met Sandy and the possum brothers. She knew that Sandy have never changed over those years. She was a very fun possum, and also a loving and caring possum. Yet she was older and wiser then her two sons, and she was much careful of what she did. Right now was a very dangerous situation for her to actually play a lot. But really, she was a fun mother, a fun possum, and fun..friend.

Ellie then stopped thinking about her mother, and shut her eyes to sleep.

Diego just sat there, who seemed to not be ready to go to bed yet.

Sid already had a big piece of bark to lay on, and he pulled it closer to Diego, so he could have a talk with him. "Hey Diego," he finally let out.

"Hey," the tiger looked at Sid.

"The weather has gotten worse."

"Yeah."

"But I'm...kind of afraid."

"What, that you'll pass out again?" Diego said in a sarcastic voice.

"No. I'm scared, 'cause I might get roasted. And you will get roasted, and so will Manny, Ellie, and the possums."

"Oh." Diego tried his best to comfort the sloth. "We'll be fine. We can escape it."

"When do you think it will blow?"

"I don't know. It could blow any second. But...if it really gets bad, we would know."

"Yeah." Sid put a small grin on his face, and looked at the tiger silently, who didn't say anything for 20 seconds. "Hey Diego?"

"Yeah," the tiger looked at Sid.

"Have you ever had a best friend?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, I don't know." Sid moved around as he tried to get comfortable. "Some one you felt close to. Some one who you loved a lot, and...was your buddy."

Diego turned his head from him again, and stared strait ahead. "I don't know. Probably not." Diego got up, and walked away, and found the sleep stop he wanted, and lay down a bit.

But Sid was not ready to go to bed, and pulled his bark to the tiger again. It was not that dark out, since there were many stars and the moon. "You weren't close to anyone?"

"Well," Diego continued, "my pack seemed to get along great. But...it didn't prove that we were best buddies."

Sid wasn't surprised. He was a tiger, and tigers seemed to like killing more than loving others. But there had to be love in a carnivore's heart. "Oh," he replied.

"No, I guess I never really experienced having a best friend."

"Yeah, so I guess you never felt you would tell your pack anything that was on your mind. That's what best friends do. You never had a girlfriend?"

"No. And why do you want one so much?" Diego finally smiled.

"I don't know! I guess...that's just the way sloths are."

"No Sid. That's the way YOU are."

"I don't know. A mate would be so great to have. She would always respect you, and listen to your problems. And I could listen to her problems. SHE would be...like a best friend." There was a five second pause before Sid could finally continue. "Not to mention that they're really hot." Sid chuckled, and looked at the tiger, and expected him to laugh with him. But he didn't.

"So...you just need a best friend," Diego replied.

"I guess. A mate would be great. But I always wanted a best friend, just as much as I wanted a mate. Although, everybody seems to be my friend to me."

"Best friends are honest with each other, right?"

"Of course."

Diego thought for a few seconds. He couldn't believe what he just heard from that stupid sloth who seemed to be very smart. He couldn't believe what he was about to say. "Well, you're kind of reminding me of something, then."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I..." Diego wanted to scratch himself for being honest, but for some reason he kept going. "I'm not like all of you."

"What do you mean, Diego?"

"I mean, I'm not a herbivore...like you."

"Oh. I don't care. I still love you since you're a caring friend."

Diego's whole life of being with his new herd got him tingled when he heard the word, 'friend'.

"Do you miss being with other carnivores?"

"Oh...well..." Diego looked at the sloth who was curious. For some reason he didn't want to lie this time. "Actually..."

"It's ok if you do, Diego," Sid said in a fast breath, putting his hand up.

"Well...you know...homesick. You feel homesick?"

"Me? Well...no. 'Cause I feel like I'm at home, with you guys."

"Oh."

"Are you lonely, Diego? Are you lonely that you're the only carnivore in this herd?"

Yes. "Me? No way. I..." he looked at Sid, "...I love this herd."

"I'm sure you do. But...I know you may feel kind of sad."

Diego did feel a little bit bad. But now he realized he felt good, after telling Sid every thing. "Well, I think I HAVE experienced a best friend, now that I remember."

"Really? What was he like?"

"Oh...very sensitive."

"Really?"

"Yep." Diego put his head down for the night. That was enough. Diego was not the type for mushy stuff, and he was actually afraid he went too far then he has ever gone before. But he indeed knew that Sid was a good friend to him, and everybody was a good herd toward him. He never even wanted to heard the word pack again. He only wanted to hear herd.

"Good night, Diego," Sid finally broke the silence, and put his whole body down to sleep.

"Night."

SP-So there you have it! You finally found out what was wrong with Diego. He was the only carnivore in the herd. It may not seem every extreme, and I apologize if it wasn't that creative or extreme. But it's all had for that. But the story is so not over yet! I will have chapter 11 coming soon, and there is more peril to come! Yay!