Hey everyone. So like I mentioned in the last chapter I jumped a head a month in this story. The reason for that is that it would take the herd a little over a month to get to the Blizzard Valley and I wanted to move the story along and to be honest I had no idea what to write for the month of them traveling. So in this chapter Manny finally find out the truth, or does he? (Evil laugh) you'll have to read the chapter to find out. I hope you enjoy and please keep leaving reviews I enjoy hearing what you have to say. Anyway, STORY TIME. YAY! :D ;p
It has been a month of traveling for the odd herd to get to the Blizzard Valley. Jewel was getting more nervous the closer they got for she knew a huge storm was coming and was jumpy at the fact that they hadn't had any sighting of Troy since the encounter at the lake and it made her worry about if he or worst if Elizabeth were planning something awful towards her and the herd. Ellie was the first to notice this throughout their traveling and would comfort her new step daughter when she got like this. It was a bright and sunny day and the herd decided to take a break from walking all day and part of the night yesterday. They found a spot near a bunch of tall oak trees and a small stream that flowed through them. Manny, Ryan, and Diego decided to go gather some food while Ellie, Roshan, and Sid kept Jewel company and the possum twins, well who knows what they were up to. Jewel went to the creek to take a drink; she was now 13 months along and was starting to show. She knew Manny would find out soon and was mentally preparing herself for that conversation. "So are you going to tell him Jewel?" Ellie asked as she walked over to Jewel with a look of concern on her face. "You know it will be easier if you tell him then for him to find out." Roshan piped up standing next to Ellie with Sid standing next to him nodding his head. "I know and I will. As soon as they get back I'll talk to him alone. I'm just worried about Ryan. I know Manny can be stubborn and hot headed and I'm afraid He's gonna go ballistic when he finds out Ryan is the father." Jewel said as she looked at Ellie and then down at her reflection in the creek. "Don't worry about Manny Jewel. If he gives you or Ryan a hard time I'll give him a piece of my mind. It will better for you and your child to tell him soon." Ellie said as she gave Jewel a small smile. "Well actually Ellie. It's more like children." Jewel said as she tried to avoid the looks of shock from the Trio. "Wait! What now?!" they all asked at once.
Meanwhile Manny and Ryan were walking alone, since Diego went to go hunting, picking berries and leaves as they went along putting them into a larger leaf that Manny found. Ryan was distracted by the fact that Manny hasn't noticed the fact that Jewel was pregnant and walked right into a tree which higher up sat the two possum twins. They followed Manny and Ryan knowing what Ryan was going to do and were looking for some entrainment. "Ryan you ok?" Manny asked when he heard Ryan hit the tree and back tracked to see if he was alright. "Yeah I'm fine. I have a lot on my mind. That's all." Ryan said as he rubbed his forehead with his trunk not noticing the look quick look Manny gave him. What Ryan or the others knew was that Manny knew from the very beginning that Jewel was pregnant and that she was having twins, he was just playing dumb until the truth came out. What worried Manny was not the fact that Jewel was pregnant but was who the father was. Manny was worried that Troy was the father and was hoping it was Ryan instead. (Weird right?! Me, the mammoth who worries about everything, is hoping it is Ryan and that I'm not worried about the fact that Jewel is pregnant? Shocked me too.) Manny decided to continue to play dumb and see what Ryan was thinking about. "So? Care to tell me what's been on your mind? Anything that you need to tell me?" Manny asked trying to lead Ryan into talking about Jewel being pregnant. Ryan sighed and knew he had to tell Manny.
"Well there is something I want to talk to you about. It's about Jewel." Ryan said as he tried to avoid Manny's eyes. "Bingo" Manny thought to myself and tried his hardest to keep a straight face trying to ignore the smirk threatening to surface. "What about Jewel?!" Manny asked trying to sound like his usual self despite the smile he was fighting back. Ryan took a deep breath and thought to myself "This is no time to be afraid. Do it for Jewel." "Well you see Jewel is pregnant and is 13 months along and I'm the father. It happened after Elizabeth ordered us to separate her from her herd. Don't be angry at her, if you're gonna be angry be angry at me. I take full responsibility for what happened to Jewel and I know nothing a say can forgive what happened but believe me when I say I will never leave her side as long as live and will do everything to protect her including confronting you about this instead of her. I feel it's my responsibility to tell you and I am prepared for whatever yelling or punishment you have." Ryan said as he stood in front of Manny standing up straight showing no sign of fear yet showing respect for Manny by looking him straight in the eye. Manny couldn't fake it anymore and let out a thunderous laugh confusing poor Ryan.
"I'm sorry but there is no need for you to feel it's your responsibility to tell me. I knew all along and was waiting for Jewel or yourself to tell me instead of demanding it out of you two." Manny said as he patted Ryan on his shoulder. "Wait you knew?! For how long?!" Ryan asked as he began to get nervous. "Relax. I figured it out the day Troy attacked Jewel down by the lake. I could see she was larger than she should have been; Jewel has always been very athletic so I knew that wasn't the reason. I am glad though to know you are the father. I would have been completely fumed if it was that no good Troy who was the father. I am very impressed with you Ryan. You felt the need to take the blame for what happened to Jewel and I know for a fact that you will never abandon Jewel and will always be there for her otherwise me and you are going to have huge problems." Manny said as he gave Ryan a small smile that turned to a serious look at the end. "Of course not sir I would never leave her." Ryan said as he mirrored Manny's serious look. "Good now then let's get finish gathering up the food and head back" Manny said as he turned on his heels and grabbed the large leaf dragging it behind him with Ryan right behind him. Up the tree Crash and Eddie were so shocked that they forgot the whole reason they were out there and looked at each other with their mouths wide open. "Did you know he knew?" Crash asked his brother. "No! I thought you did and that's why we came out here." Eddie yelled at his brother before tackling him and engaged in a slap fight/ wrestling match.
Back at the clearing Jewel was about to explain what she meant when Diego came out of the forest without her step dad or her mate. "Um Diego? Where's Manny and Ryan?" Jewel asked nervously as she directed her attention towards the orange saber. "I left them to gather food for you guys and to go hunting. Why?" Diego asked as he saw how nervous Jewel got. But before she could answer him the familiar sound of heavy footprints could be heard and everyone turned their attention toward the two bull mammoths who were at this point laughing at a joke Ryan just told. As they came into the clearing they could seeing the look of confusion and shock on everyone's faces, mostly Jewel's. Ryan noticed this and made his way over to his mate. "Ryan? Are you ok?" Jewel asked as she quickly looked him over. Ryan chuckled and wrapped his trunk around hers. "I'm fine. Better in fact. You're stepdad wants to talk to you though." Ryan said as he smiled at her and gentle nudged her in the direction of her stepdad. Jewel was nervous at first but seeing the good mood both of them were in worried her more than about what they possibly talked about. Jewel walked over to Manny and he motioned her to follow him. "I want to talk to you. Follow me." He said as he led her out of the clearing and out of ear range from the others.
They came to a stop and Jewel was gonna say something when Manny spoke. "Don't worry Jewel. I know about you being pregnant and I'm not mad." Manny said and tried to keep a straight face when she just stood there with her mouth open and her eyes as wide as saucers. "Wait?! Ryan told you?" Jewel asked as she tried to process what Manny just told her. Manny let out a small laugh at her reaction. "Well yes and no. You see he did tell me and I was very impressed by that but I already knew and pretended I didn't so you or Ryan could tell me yourselves without feeling pressured." Manny admitted was he gave her a small grin. "Really?! Oh Manny that's such a relief to hear tha…. Wait a minute?! YOU KNEW AND YOU DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING! Jewel asked as her the tone of her voice changed from being calm to anger which caused Manny to look at her sheepishly and nodded slightly. "DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS ABOUT THIS AND YOU KNEW ALL ALONG. WHY I OUGHTA!" Jewel yelled as she lunged towards Manny swinging her trunk while all Manny could do was laugh slightly and run away from Jewel.
The others were puzzled about what was going on and were even more confused when they heard yelling. "COME BACK HERE YOU!" Jewel yelled and they heard a deep voice laughing. Suddenly Manny came crashing out of the forest, laughing and motioned for everyone to move to the sides. "Out of the way. Heavily pregnant shemmoth coming through." Manny joked as he ran past the others shocked to hear what he just said, well all except for Ryan. "OH YOUR'E GONNA GET IT FOR THAT REMARK!" Jewel yelled as she ran past the others and disappeared into the forest the same way her stepdad did. The others looked at each other confused and soon heard the sounds of someone getting hit coming from the direction the two mammoths ran. "Oww. Ok. Ok. you win. I surrender." Manny said and a few seconds later Jewel came trotting out of the forest with a branch in her trunk and a pleased look on her face. "Humph. Serves you right. Making me worry over nothing." Jewel said as Manny came out of the forest with pine needles all in his fur and was chuckling to himself. "What's going on?" Ellie asked and everyone minus Ryan nodded even the possum brothers who suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "It's a long story but to sum it up Manny knew Jewel was pregnant the whole time and didn't say anything so that Jewel or myself could tell him on our own terms." Ryan said as he walked over to Jewel who smiled at him and gave him a gentle nudge. Everyone one looked at Manny with shock but didn't press the matter further since it was on good terms now and didn't want to ruin the happy moment. They decided to spend the night in a nearby cave that Diego found and on the way Jewel and Ellie were talking. Jewel got very serious and made sure no one else could hear what they were talking about. "Are you sure?" Jewel asked giving Ellie a serious look and was concerned for her step mother. "I'm not 100% sure yet but I think so. I just don't know how to tell Manny." Ellie said as she gave Jewel an unsure look. "Well if you can always talk to me about it. I won't tell Manny." Jewel said as she rested her trunk on Ellie's shoulder earning a smile from the older shemmoth and returned their attention back towards the others as they came to the cave. Just as they were about to settle down for the night a twig snapped next to them. Fear came flooding back to Jewel at the thought of it being Troy and both Ryan and Manny moved in front of Jewel to protect her when the figure came out from the forest and revealed himself. Standing in the moonlight was light brown bull mammoth who was taller than Ryan and was covered with fresh wounds. Jewel gasped at the sight of the bull mammoth and ran from the safety of her protectors to help him. "MARKUS! What happened to you?" Jewel asked frantically as she helped to support him. "Jewel you know him?" Manny and Ryan asked at the same time slightly lowering their guard. "Of course. He's my childhood friend. He's from my father's herd. We grew up together." Jewel said as she looked Markus over. Everyone looked shocked and Ellie went and helped support Markus as they walked into the cave to take care of his wounds. "Jewel…." Markus began but she cut him off. "Don't talk. You need to rest." Jewel said as she helped him to lie down and in no time he was asleep. "Oh Markus. What happened to you?" Jewel asked herself as she started to clean his wounds with the help of Ellie and Roshan as Manny, Ryan, and Diego stood at the entrance to the cave on high alert.
Sorry for leaving you with a cliffhanger but I needed to end somewhere. Yes Manny knew from the beginning, I'm evil, I know it. So the whole scene with Jewel chasing Manny was a recap on how they were when she was younger. I wanted to show that Manny did have a playful side which is why he was laughing the whole time she was chasing him and why he gave the whole "heavily pregnant shemmoth coming through" remark. So if anyone is confused on what Ellie and Jewel were talking about then good, be confused, be very confused. So until next chapter and if I don't get the next chapter up by Halloween, Happy Halloween.