Okay, here's another chapter! WE HAVE REACHED THE FINAL CHAPTER OF ICE AGE 1! XD Well, THE NEXT CHAPTER IS THE LAST ONE! Just incase u guys r wondering, nope, not gonna put ice age 2 in another story. Gonna keep it in this one to keep things simple for ppl who might be looking for it. A lot of u guys have been wondering what would happen at half peak so I decided to try and update this as soon as possible!

And here r the replies to ur reviews of epicness:

Villains' Bad Girl: Well, you're just gonna have to find out in this chapter won't ya! ;P

Shiego627: Aw, thanks! Glad u thought so! Here's another update!

TimberPaw: Yeh, she probabl likes Sid more than Manny becuz of how grumpy he can be! XD And as for the rest of ur questions...well, u're just gonna hav to find out in this chappie! XP

Btw, Italics in the first part will mean a flashback, in the next one it'll be normal.

Warning: OC pairing, Don't like, DON'T READ!

Disclaimer: Don't own the Ice Age franchise or any of the characters in it; that all belongs to Blue Sky

It would be safe to say that Taura was officially pissed.

The female was marching away through the snow at a fast pace, looking like she would have steam blowing out of her ears at any moment. Her nostrils were flaring, her one eye narrowed while the other scarred one squinted in fury and her mouth was set in an ever-present frown that showed off her bared fangs. But beneath that angry façade, she felt like her heart plummeted to her stomach and her insides were frozen and hollow with sadness. Taura blinked away any tears that would've given away her miserable emotions beneath and chanted her brother's favorite line while marching in her head: "Never show weakness, never how you care, never show weakness, never show you care..." over and over again.

But no matter how many times she chanted that, she couldn't forget the feeling of hurt that overcame her when she remembered her argument with Diego...

Taura woke up to find the sky still dark and the fireplace no longer burning, now it was nothing more than a pile of smoking ash. She got up, let out a short, silent yawn, stretched her front legs and went out for a quick snack. "Bound to be some hibernating mole somewhere around here..." Taura thought as she dug around in the early morning. When she came back with Diego's snack in her mouth (a dead mouse), she found her favorite four (including the baby) still sleeping around the fire: Sid was lying on his back in some funny position, mouth open and snoring and mumbling in his sleep about some snack; Manny was silently sleeping with the baby tucked safely close to him in his trunk, his eyes twitching ever so often in his sleep; Diego had his head placed on top of his paws, his back rising up and down at a steady pace with his breathing and his sideburns would occasionally shift whenever the occasional wind blew by them.

Taura felt a twinge of guilt at what she was about to do, and it wasn't because of waking her best friend from his sleep. Ever since Manny saved Diego from nearly falling to his death, Taura felt eternally grateful to him. Watching Kraz die before her was bad enough, having to watch the only person you had left in your life fall to his death before you...she didn't know what she would've done without him by her side anymore. After thinking about it for some time while faking sleep last night, she decided to betray her own pack and to help her new friends (yes, that is what she officially felt they were to her now) return the baby back to its herd.

If it was just by herself, she wouldn't have had no problem waking the two mammals up right now and telling them everything. Only problem was, she wasn't by herself; Diego was still in on this mission and she didn't know whether he would agree with her or not. That is what she was going to tell him this early in the morning. "Hopefully the extra snack will put him in a better mood before I break the news to him" She thought grimly with a wry smile.

Taura gently pushed Diego's shoulder with her nose, while trying not to smear any blood from the mouse on his golden pelt.

"Diego, come on, wake up!" Diego heard Taura's voice gently try to wake him up in his head, making him blink his eyes several times before finally opening them. He saw Taura's amber eyes stare at him, but it was what was in her mouth that caught his attention. "I got you breakfast!" She whispered cheerfully with a grin that would've been wider had it not been for the dead mouse stuck between her teeth. Diego looked at her with confused eyes and a raised eyebrow; it was very strange for her to get him breakfast since whenever they went off hunting, whoever caught something would claim it as theirs. Plus with Taura's gluttonous character, she rarely ever shared!

"It's not poisoned is it?" He asked her, eyeing the piece of meat with suspicion, causing her to giggle when she finally put it down in front of him.

"No silly! If I did want to kill you, I would've wanted to see the smug smirk wiped off your face with my own claws" She giggled with fake-evilness as she licked whatever pieced were left off her teeth. Diego still stared at the piece of meat for a short while, but decided that this would probably never happen again in the near future so what the heck. He quickly snatched the rodent and was able to swallow it hole in one bite.

"I uh, should've probably gotten something bigger..." She chuckled nervously, looking at Diego with a disbelieving look as he licked his paw clean.

"No no, it was fine." He assured her with a small smile before adding in quietly "Thanks..." making her smile even wider. Unfortunately, it didn't last long before a much more nervous and agitated look came over her, making her look down at the ground. She didn't know if she was able to look Diego in the eyes at what she was about to say next...but she had to try...

"You okay?" Diego asked her worriedly, noticing her damp mood while trying to catch her downcast eyes "You don't look so-"

"I'm not doing it."

Diego looked at his female friend in shock at what she randomly blurted out. "Uh...come again?" Diego asked her, not sure if he heard her correctly, and even if he did, he wasn't sure what she was talking about anyways. Taura looked up at him, staring straight into his eyes with determination as her mouth was set in a firm line.

"I'm not doing it," She repeated, only this time clarifying "I can't lead Manny and Sid to the trap,"

Diego's eyes widened at what she said, he had no idea where this sudden change of attitude came from but he kept a calm face and replied "I know you might seem reluctant to sell them out, but we need to do this for-" Taura interrupted him again, causing him to feel a little irked and her raise voice didn't help either.

"But don't you see that those two have nothing to do with the humans?" She exclaimed at him, her eyes begging him to understand "Manny saved your life for crying out loud! Do you know how scared I was of losing you that day?! And now you wanna repay them by taking them to their death?!"

"Well it's too late now!" Diego snapped at Taura, her voice now getting caught in her throat at the sharpness of Diego's voice. The truth was, Diego knew that Taura was right on the dot, but he didn't want to admit it. Not when they were so close. "We're already less than three miles away from Half Peak and now you're getting cold feet and just randomly asking to abandon the pack where we were born and raised in?! You're just willing to forgive and forget what the humans did to our family? TO YOUR BROTHER?! OR DO YOU JUST NOT CARE FOR HIM THAT MUCH AND WOULD RATHER RUN AWAY WITH YOUR TAIL BETWEEN YOUR LEGS LIKE A WEAK MUTT?!" He finally finished with a yell, breathing deeply through his nose as he glared at her.

Taura stood still as she leaned away from Diego who's nose was mere inches away from hers from when he was marching closer and closer to her with every accusation her threw at her. When Diego finally simmered down, the full extent of his words finally crashed down on him as guilt filled his stomach when he looked at Taura's hurt and tear-glazed eyes, looking like she was just stabbed in the back.

Diego was about to apologize until Taura's eyes suddenly took an enraged look, shocking him into silence, and suddenly pounced on top of him with her teeth bared and her chest rumbling against his as she growled at him threateningly.

"Let me clarify for you buddy, since you're obviously deranged enough to think I'm a mutt!" She spat at him, her glaring amber eyes staring right into his shocked hazel ones. Suddenly, her voice took a much more quieter and chilling tone "Don't you ever DARE accuse me of not caring about my brother! I just happen to have to be reminded of his bloody, lifeless face every SINGLE FUCKING NIGHT!" shouting out her last three words, making Diego's eyes widen even further from the fact that this was the first time he had ever heard her cuss. She then leaned back from his face with a scrunched up nose and a scowl, as if the mere scent of him disgusted her.

"Normally I would tear off your tongue and shove it up your ass for what you said, but I don't want to contaminate my claws with your filth!" Taura spat at him before finally unpinning him from the ground and getting off of him. Diego sat up and brushed the dirt off his shoulders as he glared at her.

"Then let me give you a piece of advise," Diego seethed at Taura, her determined eyes never yielding away from his "Do us all a favor, and just leave." Taura's eyes grew bigger from what he said, softening from their steeled gaze and turning into their more hurt shade. Diego tried to ignore the guilt that was bubbling inside his stomach and continued with a dead and serious tone "If you're going to get in my way, I'm going to kill you, so if you want to avoid that and don't want to be a part of this, then I suggest you just leave and never return."

Taura felt tears starting to spring at the back of her eyes, but she shook her head and steeled her eyes back into their cold glare. "Fine." She huffed, and did exactly as what Diego advised her to do: she marched away back into the snow landscape...and didn't turn back.

As Taura replayed the scene again at the back of her mind, she finally let a single small tear fall from her scarred eye before quickly wiping it away. She didn't know what hurt more: the names that he called her, the fact that Diego would just ask her to leave just like that, as if their last years together meant nothing or the accusations of her not caring for her brother. It didn't matter anyways, because all three of them pierced her heart like cold, sharp knives that wouldn't release their icy grip from her insides.

She was about to continue her march forward, but decided to take a break for her aching feet. It was now nearly mid-day and Taura never stopped walking from the moment she started back at the camp they made. Now she could feel the dark bags underneath her eyes and how every single bone in her legs seemed to ache and plead for a minute of rest.

Just as she was about to continue walking, she paused in her steps as she heard a large bellow far away. Her eyes widened as she realized that the roar sounded a lot like Soto's voice.

"Oh no..."

"Ugh, come on you stupid piece of bark!" Manny grumbled,

So far the plan was going well: Diego was keeping up his act and Sid was distracting the sabers. The sloth was heading Manny's way right now, but the mammoth was having difficulty getting the jammed log out of one of the cave cracks that they hid it in. Manny gave one final heave but the log still had a bit of its end inside and refused to move no matter how much force Manny continued to pull it with. Suddenly, the log was given an anonymous shove that popped it out, causing Manny to fall over from the surprise force. Manny looked over to find the log roll over to a pair of familiar beige and brown legs.

"Taura?!" Manny exclaimed in surprise as he found her standing there with a deadpanned look that said 'No, it's the Easter bunny...Who do you think it is?!'. This morning when Manny and Sid didn't find her, Diego simply told them that she had to leave for some business with her pack. Sid pointed out that he seemed more angry and grouchy than usual, to which he replied by snapping at him that it was none of his business.

"How did you find us?" Manny asked her as he got up and picked up the log and balanced it on his tusks. She replied by grinning up at him and tapping her nose, indicating that she followed them by scent. Manny was about to inquire further until he heard a distant shuffling and growling from afar, making him narrow his eyes in concentration as he tried to figure out from which direction it was coming from.

"Taura, I would explain to you the plan, but I need you to hide inside here and quick!" Manny said in a quick voice, hurriedly shoving her towards the cave crack on the cliff side that they used to hide the log previously. Taura was about to object until she heard the familiar growls and roars of her pack mates and quickly went inside and ducked inside the cave with her face facing the entrance. The spot was rather cramped and was barely big enough than her waistline.

As she ducked in the dark of the cave, she saw the pack members running into Manny who smiled at them slyly and yelled out "SURPRISE!" before hitting them all with his log, causing them to fall over the cliff and land below. Taura was about to come out until a familiar voice caused her to quickly go back in.

"Okay, follow me!" Diego called out "We'll pick up Sid and get out of here while we can!"

Taura blinked in surprise at what he said. Wasn't this the part where Soto and the others would rip Manny apart and take the baby? What was Diego doing? "Could he have possibly..." Taura thought, her eyes widening in surprise at the idea. She was broken away from her thoughts when a deeper voice echoed through the area.

"Come on Diego..." Soto beckoned his right hand man, Taura shuffled closer to the entrance far enough to see Soto stalking towards Manny with Diego right beside him. "Let's bring this mammoth down!"

Taura was about to come out from her hiding place when she saw the two of them stalking towards the mammoth, ready to defend Manny even if it was two on one until she paused in her steps when she saw Diego cut off Soto by standing protectively in front of Manny, who's defensive glare morphed into a surprise glance as he looked at Diego.

"What are you doing?!" Soto demanded,

"Leave. The mammoth. Alone." Diego growled at him threateningly, his eyes narrowed into two glaring slits. Soto stood there and glared at his used-to-be pack member until he felt the presence of Lenny and Oscar coming up behind him, as if backing him up. Taura grit her teeth in frustration as she saw the hopeless position Diego was put in. She would've thought that it would take those two longer to recover from that strong hit Manny delivered.

Soto glanced at his two pack mates before glaring back at Diego "Fine, I'll take you down first." Soto seethed as he and Diego started to circle each other. The air was so thick with tension that a knife would've been stuck half-way if it tried to cut through it. Finally, the two big males pounced at each other while exchanging blows, both of them trying to swipe and claw at each other's faces. Taura saw Manny trying to come to Diego's aid only to be cut off by Oscar and Lenny as they both tried to have a bite off of his feet, which left Manny trapped in his corner. Taura decided that this is where she would come in.

Just as Oscar was about to take a swipe at one of the mammoth's legs, he felt something collide and pierce at his side as he fell down and rolled in the snow. Whatever it was that landed on him, it quickly bounced off and left obvious claw piercings on his pelt. Oscar growled in annoyance and stood up to face whatever decided to but in only to face the surprising presence of the missing female member.

"Well, well. it's our favorite little scar-face!" Oscar sneered at Taura with a scowl, who stood in front of Manny protectively.

"Long time no see Oscar," Taura snorted as she smirked at them both confidently, "Although not long enough in my opinion..."

Oscar growled at her while glancing between her and the mammoth, who was looking at Taura with an annoyed expression. "I thought I told you to stay in the cave!" Manny yelled at her with a glower. Taura responded by looking at him with a look that easily translated to "Did you really think I'd listen?" as she raised an eyebrow at the mammoth.

Lenny took the opportunity while the female feline was distracted to pounce on her, but to no avail as she quickly dodged out of the way by rolling to the side. "I really didn't think it through when I came out did I.." Taura smirked wryly as she dashed left, right and back away from the swipes and lunges of Lenny and Oscar, Manny usually helping her by swiping at them with his trunk. Not only was she outnumbered, but both of her opponents were twice as large as her. While they were more bulky and strong, Taura was more thin, sleek and half their size. If either of them got her pinned, it was game over.

A sudden loud thud caused Taura to look up for a moment to find Diego unconscious against a rock, causing her eyes to widen in panic and worry. "Oh no...not again...dear god, please not now!" Taura prayed to whatever deity above to let Diego be okay, but her worried expression only lasted for a moment before she went back to glaring to her now THREE opponents.

"My, my, if it isn't our long lost mute female." Soto smirked evilly as he and his companions stalked towards Taura and Manny. Taura held her ground and growled Soto threateningly as she crouched low, ready to pounce. "It doesn't really surprise me that you've also betrayed us. Since you're Diego's little pet, you would follow him wherever he goes, wouldn't you?" Soto drawled as his smirk widened. Taura ignored him and glanced around desperately for anything, ANYTHING that would help them at all, but she knew it was no use. Manny's hind quarters were already up against the wall and it was now three against two, but Taura swore that if it was the last thing she did, she would die trying!

Taura saw Soto lower himself to the ground, wiggle his hind legs and getting ready to pounce. Taura shut her eyes tightly, waiting for his piercing fangs to cut through her as she heard his legs finally leave the ground. When she didn't fell any pain on any part of her, she blinked open her eyes only for them to widen in horror at finding Diego in between her and Soto, lying on the floor. Just as Soto was about to swipe at Diego, Taura shot her claws at him like a rocket, making sure to give him three, deep, runny scars on his cheek.

"Keep your paws off him you bastard!" She roared at him both mentally and outwardly as she now stood protectively over Diego and Manfred. Soto's eyes were now burning with rage at the female who dared to lay her claws at him, but before he could return the favor, he heard a wailing cry ahead. He looked up to find the sloth that they were chasing...holding the human baby in his arms. Soto started to smirk in triumph and stalk his way towards the sloth, but Manny glared at the saber and took this chance to swipe Soto and hit him sideways, making him fly and hit the opposite wall.

Taura heard a jingling noise from above only to find icicles shaking dangerously...right above Soto. All mammals looked at the shaking icicles until finally, they all landed on Soto, piercing his body and killing him instantly. Lenny and Oscar winced and looked away for a moment before looking back at their frozen and dead leader. They then looked at Manny and Taura with worry, who returned their stares with heated glares and deep, threatening growls. The two male sabers took the hint and ran away hurriedly with their tails between their legs.

Sid shuffled towards them both and started to grin triumphantly. "We did it!" He half-whispered, half-exclaimed as he jumped while raising a fist in the air. Taura didn't share in his excitement and quickly ran towards the now worryingly still Diego. She gently nuzzled her face with his, trying to get his to wake up. When he did, it only made her heart plummet even further when she met the dimly-lit hazel eyes that were usually full of arrogance and slyness.

"Diego..."