Chapter Five: "That's What You Do In A Herd"

Disclaimer: I don't own Ice Age or anything related to it. Blue Sky Studios and Twentieth Century Fox does. (I'm going to type this in every chapter because its fun.) Millie and Wallace (who, I don't think, will be around anymore) belong to Funkywatermelon. (I will type this in every chapter too, because I like typing that too. I think that she deserves to be mentioned. If it wasn't for her this fic wouldn't even be around!)

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He heard something in the distance. It was the sound of a mammoth trumpeting. He looked around, hoping for it to be Millie. But then he remembered. She was gone.

Then he remembered his new family. The ones that were in trouble NOW. He had only a second to come back to reality before he saw Diego being flung to the side. He hit his head hard on the cave that was trapping Ellie.

She saw him laying there and hoped that Manny was nearby. She looked around and saw him standing off to the side, frozen. She trumpeted again and again. What else could she do?

"Manny!" she screamed as loud as she could. "Manny! Help us!"

He wanted to move. But he couldn't. Seeing his past repeat itself was too much for him. He couldn't break free of the supernatural hold on him. Screams of "Manny" sounded from the whole group. His heart pounded so hard until it nearly stopped.

Fear isn't something he would ever admit to, but that's what he felt. He felt fear. Ellie trumpeted once more, and this time it sounded painful. That was enough for him. Enraged at what the humans were trying to do to him and angry that they had hurt his friend, he charged at them. He knew better than to try and come at them head on, like before. He came up behind them, picked up one and threw him off to the side. He hoped that would be enough to send the others away. But that only made them more mad.

Manny was afraid. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to help his family, they meant the world to him. He charged back again and knocked another one over. The humans wouldn't go without a battle. Their spears kept flying. If only there was some way to stop them!

Manny thought of the only thing he could do. Outsmart them. He ran up to the middle of the tribe and trumpeted. Then, as if in great pain and distress,he fell over. He lay very still, hoping his plan would work.

And it did. They all carefully walked over to him, giving the others a chance to escape. He knew what the humans would do next. He only hoped that he was strong enough to take it.

The leader reached up with his spear and aimed. Manny could feel the sharp stone being driven into his chest. He could feel the hate coming with it. He hoped his herd got away before they finished with him.

All the friends had gotten to safety, but could still see the battle from their new position across the sink hole they had gotten around. Ellie watched with horror, hoping it all to be a nightmare. She trumpeted, hoping to give him strength to fight them off.

Right when Manny thought it was over, he reached up with his trunk and, in one swift motion, grabbed all six humans and tightened his grip immensely. Their screams were terrible and soon were quiet. Manny tossed them aside. The three still alive ran off before the mammoth could kill them too.

Manny reached back to try and dislodge the spear from his side, without success. He didn't have much strength left. Endurance took a lot out of him. He laid his trunk to the ground, unable to hold it up anymore.

Ellie, panic-stricken, ran over to Manny, tears in her eyes. She nuzzled him and removed the spear. She was hysterical and couldn't find the right words to describe how she felt.

"Manny," she whispered, crying. "Why did you do that? You could've died! And the humans..."

"Ellie," he interrupted. "Shh... It's ok. It's ok." He reached up his trunk for hers.

"You risked your life for us!" she whispered in his ear as Sid walked up. "Why?"

"That's what you do in a herd," he said. It came as common sense now, even to Sid. The same thought hit him and Manny simultaneously.

"Diego!" cried Sid. He rushed over to their other fallen friend. Crash and Eddie were already at his side, as if just being there would somehow help.

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Wow, I don't know what's come over me... I must be a terrible writer ifI can do that to one of my favorite characters! I LOVE Manny to PIECES and I almost killed him! How could I do that? Well, I did need something to beat what was already used in the movie and this is whatI finally decided on... You should've seen all the brainstorming I did in my english journal... I hope my teacher isn't too mad that I was brainstorming instead of actually WRITING... lol... thanks again to all my WONDERFUL reviewers! I love you all so much and I can say, I would NOT continue this if it weren't for you guys... I hope I don't disappoint anyone!

Oh, and I'm about halfway done with chapter six... and i'm thinking of writing an epilogue after that... what do you think? R&R?

-Safi Kittykat Out-