DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ice Age, I only own Fatal, Delusion/Tian, and Singe.
Chapter 11; Effort Paid Off
It had been a few days since the small battle with the three sabres. Everyone was well rested, not to mention thirst quenched and well-fed. That's right, we caught up to the migrating animals. Oh yeah! Partly because we ran half the way, partly because Sid managed to wriggle a ride from one of us every now and then. The weather was much warmer down South, even though light snowfall wasn't out of the question. The sun was perched high in the sky, barely a cloud in the light blue abyss.
The herd was laying lazily around a small pond, watching a few herbivores splashing around. Lucky for them I wasn't hungry. I'd learned how to hunt rather powerfully over the days, thanks to help from my other predatory friends. As for the fact of fighting, I had tussled with Singe or Fatal every day, getting used to how rough such battles could expand in to.
Breeding Season was going quite well. I had barely seen any male wolves around, and those who had been in my sight were occupied with their own females, obviously all besides Fatal. I had considered finding a mate only once, the answer I came up with; No. Even if I was willing to settle down and start a family, it wouldn't be until another year or so.
Consumed by my own thoughts, I hadn't heard Sid sneak up behind me until it was too late. A hard shove forced me to fall into the pond, black fur becoming damp as the warm water soaked into it. Oh, that sloth was so gonna get it! Breaking the surface of the water, I gasped for air and tread water, turning around to see Sid laughing, but stopping when he saw my icy gaze.
"Um…" He rubbed the back of his neck with a paw, "Boo?" Laughing nervously, the sloth gulped as my lips curled back into a menacing snarl. Erupting out of the water, I landed only centimetres away, a cloud of dirt puffing up as my paws hit the ground with a loud thud. "AHHHHH!" Sid ran over to Singe and dived behind her, cowering. In his loud outburst, he also awakened her from a small catnap.
"Ugh, what'd he do now?" She sighed, glaring at the sloth with her stone blue eyes, claws slowly becoming unsheathed.
"I'll give you three guesses," My eyes directed back onto Sid, whom was nervously poking out his head from behind the Sabre-tooth, "After I rip him to shreds!"
The male's yelp of shock as I leapt over Singe and tackled him drew the attention of the rest of the herd. They walked over and watched in amusement as Sid desperately tried to wriggle out of my grasp.
"This is the most entertaining event occurring since the hunt we embarked on yesterday." Fatal smirked, his grey tail flicking in entertainment.
"What'd the sloth do?" Manny huffed, disappointed as I withdrew from the struggle and trotted to the others.
"Oh, I'll show you by making payback." Smirking, I stalked back over to the helpless victim.
"Huh?" Was all he managed to say before my strong jaws clamped down on Sid's tail, spinning around and releasing him as a well-directed aim made him fall into the pond.
"That." I said simply, grinning at my victory, even through such a small and harmless herbivore.
"Well, I'm going out hunting. With so many predators you have to get something big every two days." Diego announced, beginning to trot into the tree line.
"I'll come too." Singe called, sprinting to catch up with the male. She had been around him a lot lately. Ooh, did she have a little crush?
"Seems like she's starting to… What do I say, like him?" I questioned gently, walking over to Soto, who was taking a drink from the small body of water.
"Before we split off from our birth pack, he was always popular with the females. He's never actually been around one in adulthood though." The male lifted his head from the water and stretched, he didn't seem to mind.
"Well, I'm going to go torment Sid. See you."
Later that afternoon, the two sabres returned with a freshly killed bush-antlered deer buck. Sensing their arrival within the perimeter of a mile, I ushered the two herbivores away as to not see the carnage. After leading them away, I returned to the pond to see my friends gouging on the carcass.
"Hey, could have waited for me!" I barked sheepishly, sprinting over to the dead deer and joining the predators on the feast.
"Where'd you ditch the duo?" Singe asked, lifting her head with a blood-stained muzzle from her eating spot.
"Roughly half a kilometre away in a bundle of trees, there's some food for them to eat." I explained, ripping into the flesh on the neck of the deer, crunching down on a small bone that mingled in with the meat. "Wow, this is some nice deer. Where'd you kill it?"
"There's a herd of them a few miles from here." Diego answered, his voice barely muffled from the meat in his jaws.
About an hour later, the carcass was stripped down to the bones, everyone well-fed from the meal. Now the herd was settling down for a night's rest, when Sid suddenly came waddling over to me, smirking.
"Admit it, you like him." He accused, dropping down to the ground half a metre away from my laying figure.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Honestly, I had no idea what the bloody sloth was babbling on about. Every night it was a new topic; Female sloths, how I kill innocent creatures, female sloths, accusing someone of something, female sloths.
"Come on, I know you do." Ugh, he was trying to pry answers off of me. Normal Sid behaviour.
"Seriously, Sid. What the hell are you on about?" My eyes narrowed as I pulled myself into a sitting position. Did this, possibly, have something to do with Fatal?
"You and Fatal. I know you like him."
"Sid, I don't. He's more of a best friend to me." It was true. I may like him slightly, but I felt more of him as a best friend. Even if I liked him to a true extent, I wouldn't so abruptly rush into such a relationship. I'd only known him for a week and a half.
"Whatever." Huffing, Sid walked off again to get some shut-eye.
Rolling my eyes at the sloth's attempt, I lay my head down and slowly drifted into a light sleep.
It had been two months since that night, marking the sudden end of a cold winter, so bringing with it Dire wolf Breeding Season. The warmer weather was a joy, and the beauty of flowers and butterflies were plentiful. The attention Diego was getting from Singe was obvious that she liked him, to a fellow gender anyway. I was female too, and therefore knew female behaviour. Males on the other hand could be so clueless.
Fatal and I hadn't changed being best friends, but it was nice to see him still showing timely affection after Breeding Season. I was unsure if this was behaviour male wolves showed to females when in a pack, or he was slightly starting to like me as well. I paid no heed to the thought, even if we became mates eventually; It wouldn't be for what… five years tops? I wasn't even certain if I'd ever want a mate, not to mention Fatal; He was much more of a best friend figure.
Back to the exact present time, I couldn't wait for the upcoming adventure. It was Spring, and the numerous talking of the Water Park made me wish time would fly. The two possums, Crash and Eddie, along with their big sister, Ellie, would be meeting with us soon. I hadn't told anyone that their arrival was near, I hadn't even told them about the trio. I just played dumb when someone asked what else would await them. I answered plainly; 'I don't know. There's only one movie, and it ends after you give Devil Child back to the humans.' Of course that was a big fat lie, but I didn't want to interfere with their lives.
And so the first adventure of my new Ice Age life drawed to a close, but a new one awaited only a day away. One question still lingered at the back of my mind, taunting me; 'There's four new group members, something's bound to happen that changes the course of the adventure…. Right?'
Finally into Ice Age 2, yipee~ The next chapter should be up in... Hopefully, tomorrow.