Chapter 7

"Hey there, tiger," a cheerful female voice called. Diego looked up and saw his young new friend sitting across the stream, watching him drink.

"Hello, Sierra," Diego said, smiling at the cheerful tiger across the stream. She had been a regular visitor for the past few days, and got along well with Diego and the rest of them.

"Wanna go for a walk?"

Diego shrugged noncommittally, but followed her when she bounded off.

"I really like your herd," Sierra said, slowing her pace, so Diego, who was walking, caught up with her.

"Yeah," Diego agreed. "They're good to have around."

"You seem to have really close bonds with them."

"I guess you could say that," he responded.

"It just…" Sierra struggled to find the right words. "Even though I've known you guys a couple of days, every time I see you, it just amazes me that you could…go against the laws of nature and go from predator and prey to…family. Because that's what you are, all of you, a family. How could something like that just happen?"

"You haven't heard the whole story yet, have you?" Diego said, looking at her quizzically.

She shook her head, and smiled expectantly at Diego.

Diego sighed. "You might want to sit down," he said. "It's a long story."

The two sat down in the cool shade of a tree, and Diego told her the story of his herd. How when he first met them, Sid was just a pain, a tempting snack that he could not eat, and Manny was part of his plot with his old herd. He told about how shocked he had been when Manny saved him from the lava and called the three of them and the baby a "herd." How Sid created fire, and then accidentally lit his own tail. How he had to change his mind at the last minute after realizing that this new herd meant more to him than his old one. How he had gotten badly hurt in a fight, but managed to make it through. How he was happily welcomed back into his herd (especially by Sid) when the realized he was still alive. Diego told Sierra about encountering Ellie and the twins, and about how Sid discovered his (this was a hard part to tell) fear of water and helped him overcome it. How Sid was going to drown and Diego had to face his fear to save him. How Manny almost left but instead brought Ellie and her brothers into the herd. How Sid was kidnapped by the evil miniature sloths and Diego had to rescue him.

"You see," Diego explained. "We've saved each others lives a few times, and have come to depend on each other. We started out like normal for our kind, but it's not like that anymore. Now we…we help each other. They're my herd, and I've gotta protect them."

"Wow," Sierra said, smiling at Diego. "You and Sid, huh?"

Diego shook his head. "He's helpless. Pathetic, to tell you the truth. I can't tell you how many times in the beginning I thought about eating him."

Sierra laughed. "Come on," she said. "He's helped you out enough."

"I guess he has," Diego said, and smiled, thinking about it. It was hard to believe that someone like Sid, who could barely take care of himself, had the effect that he did on Diego. "It feels good to be protective," Diego blurted out suddenly.

Sierra studied Diego with a blank expression for a moment, and then smiled. "Yeah," she agreed. "It does. It's good to feel needed. It's good to feel loved." She moved closer to him and rubbed her head against his shoulder.

Diego backed away. "Sierra," he said. "You know I'm not the mating type. I've told you I'm not into that."

"I know," she said, rolling her eyes, unhurt by his statement. "I wasn't hitting on you. That was a gesture of friendship. I don't know if you know what those words mean, but when you like someone, that's usually something you do, so that they know you like them. So they know that you care about them and want to continue your friendship with them. Because without gestures of friendship, whether physical or verbal, how do you know that your friends like you? And how do they know that you like them?"