Hi there everyone! It is nice to see everyone again! As I have told you earlier, this chapter is going to be special, because it's going to be a total Manny chapter. I want you all to be ready and prepared for the next few chapters…. I also want to make sure that we all are ready and happy and eager for fun. Ok, sit back, relax and enjoy, you will have fun!

Disclaimer: Ice Age and any characters from it do not belong to me.

Souls Connected Chapter 8,

Manny's Arrival

Manny smiled at his friends, Sid was waddling in between him and Diego and he was singing. Usually Manny didn't like his singing, but this time the song was actually an ok one, so he didn't say anything. Also, Sid seemed to be in a good mood too. The real reason was probably because they were going to arrive at the valley today and that left Manny in an extremely good mood.

"Manny" Sid asked his gargantuan friend, "Will we get there soon?" Manny smiled as he picked Sid up with his trunk and put him on his back.

"We'll get there within the hour Sid" He told him "Just be patient for a little while." They continued on their journey, about half an hour later, they decided to take a 10 minute break, during which Sid found a young Beaver child staying with her family, she played with him for the whole time until Sid and his pals had to continue on their now only 30 minute journey. As he waved goodbye to this child, Sid had an idea…. He enjoyed children, and he wanted to get some respect, he smiled as he looked up at Manny.

"Hey, Manny" He asked, "I'm thinking of making a camp once we get to the valley… Do you want to help?" Manny frowned at him.

"No. I'm not qualified to run a camp, neither is Diego." He responded, "And you're not qualified to run a camp either, so I don't think that it's such a good idea for you to do so." Sid frowned and kept on walking. They then continued on, walking through the tundra landscape surrounding the valley. After about 20 minutes, Diego saw a big hole in the distance.

"It's the valley!" he said happily as he and his friends started running (Well, Sid did a high speed waddle) and once they reached the valley they looked in and were very happy. They walked over to the entrance ramp and Manny walked over to the blind Rhino that was there.

"Excuse me sir." He told him "My name is Manfred, I and my friends were wanting to move into the valley."

"Sorry guys" The Rhino told them, "The gate's closed for the summer." He then turned around and started to walk into the valley. Manny grabbed the old guy and held him up with his trunk in front of his face.

"Now you listen here buddy." He told him "I and my friends have been traveling for 3 months, just to get here, and you are telling me that we can't get in?" The Rhino was now scared,

"I'm sorry sir." He told him, "But the last people got here 10 days ago, a trio of possums, the gate's closed." Manny frowned.

"What do you mean, the gate's closed? I thought that everyone was welcome in this valley, no matter what!" He asked.

"Well…" the Rhino responded "The head of this valley is very strict about letting people in late." Finally Diego stepped up and spoke for the first time since they got there.

"When did the gates close?" he asked the Rhino as Manny put him back on the ground.

"About an hour ago." He told them. Diego smirked as he walked up to him and started to walk in circles around him.

"My name is Diego." He told him "And I am a Saber-Tooth Tiger. Are you sure that you won't let me and my pals here in? I mean, it's only an hour late, it's not like you're going to be killed or kicked out of the valley, is it?"

"No" the Rhino stuttered. Diego smiled and winked at his pals.

"Ok then" he replied, "Just let us in, we won't tell anyone if you don't. If you don't let us in however, you'd make us pretty angry, and trust me, you don't want to get a Saber like myself angry!" The Rhino's face was full of fear as he walked back up to Manny.

"I'm sorry sirs!" He told them, "Just say how many are in your party, the genders of the members, and the species, then you can come on in." Manny smiled as he stepped up.

"There are three of us, we're all males, and there's one Mammoth, One Saber-Tooth-Tiger and one Sloth." The Rhino smiled as he made the marks on the rock for the new inhabitants of the valley.

"Go on in" He told them, Sid and Diego smiled and started to walk in, but Manny stayed behind, Diego turned around and looked at his pal.

"Manny, you coming buddy?" He asked, Manny nodded,

"Just give me a minute." He replied, then turned to the Rhino next to him, Excuse me, are there any other Mammoths, Sloths, or Sabers in the valley?" The Rhino checked the rock then turned to him.

"There are some Sloths, but there aren't any other Mammoths or Sabers…Sorry." He replied, Manny's face drooped, Diego looked at him with a sympathetic look on his face and Sid smiled. Manny disguised his disappointment with a small smile as he walked down the entrance ramp into the valley; the Rhino walked in, pushed a rock over the entrance and walked on in. Once they got down, Manny's smile became real, there may haven't been any Mammoths, but there were a bunch of other creatures. Sid's face beamed when he saw the other Sloths. Manny was happy to realize that they were not Sid's old family. After letting Sid socialize for a little bit, the friends decided to find where they were going to sleep. Once they found the right location, the three friends all drifted off to sleep, and for the first time in a long while, Manny actually fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Well, not as good as Ellie's Arrival per say, but it was still pretty good! Stay tuned, to see what happens next in this story, please see "Ice Age Two: The Meltdown" I hope you enjoyed this story so far, and I do also hope that you enjoy the movie as well. Thanks for reading this story, and I am looking forward to hearing from you guys again after the movie… see you then! I have to go, and remember, don't listen to Fast Tony. He's nothing but a liar!

See ya real soon!

Taffyabc (Funkywatermelon's assistant)