Chapter 9: The Sub Zero Heroes

"Diego!"

"Buddy, I've got this hunter, so don't worry!'

"Hey softie, chill! She's only a kid!"

The male smilodon (who I recognised as Diego) eventually got off me and went over to join the large group of animals who were now staring at me in absolute wonder. They were three mammoths; a father, mother and a daughter who looked about my age. Along with them were a male sloth, an elderly female sloth, two possums, a molehog and a female white smilodon. I was speechless; both of my favourite series were real. Maybe, my dreams were becoming a reality after all.

And for that, I didn't know what to say.

"Who are you?" The male mammoth said, standing in front of his family to protect them from me.

When I wasn't going to even think about harming them!

"I...I...I'm not a hunter." I stammered, wanting so badly to get onto their good side. "I just woke up back in the woods, and I somehow managed to get here by crawling through a hole in my apartment!"

Obviously, they weren't going to believe me. The male mammoth stepped forward in a threatening manner, clearly indicating that he thought what I just said was nonsense. "You crawled through a what?!"

His wife stepped forward as well, placing a gentle trunk on his shoulder. "Manny, maybe you should let the child speak..."

"But Ellie, she's dangerous, we don't know who she is!" Manny protested.

Growing slightly irritated, I decided to speak up myself. "I'm a human!"

That shut them up, even though their staring was making me uncomfortable. Just as I was about to turn round and leave, Ellie reached out and gingerly wrapped her trunk around my wrist. "Hey, what's your name?"

Struggling to think of the right words, I was all of a sudden startled by hearing Elise's voice again:

"Don't be scared Megan, just tell them who you are..."

I was becoming even more nervous, but at least I was able to reply. "Megan."

Hearing this, Ellie gave me a friendly smile. "That's a lovely name. I'm Ellie, and this is my family. I'm really sorry about what happened before, we...just got a little panicked, that's all."

She then unwrapped her trunk and gestured to everyone else in the group. Some of the animals, including Diego and his wife Shira were also smiling at me. Seems weird, since they tried to attack me moments earlier but hey, you work with what you have. However, Manny still seemed skeptical.

"Um, hi..." I said quietly to everyone else, feeling confused and and anxious. Like I stated before, I was an absolute sucker when it came to meeting new people, meaning that I was not confident enough to open up and just...be myself. If only there was a friend out there, who I could do those things with; release my emotions and be the cheerful, fun-loving person I knew I was deep down...

"Hey.." The daughter replied, walking up to me with the molehog sitting on one of her tusks. "Sorry about before..."

"T-That's fine..." I said, nodding as I tried my best to remain tough even though my emotions deep down were screaming at me to be let out.

Hearing this, the daughter smiled brightly. "I'm Peaches, and this is my lovely friend Louis."

The molehog then gave me a small smile and said: "Hello...". Apparently, he was just as shy as I was. In that case, looks like I managed to get on some of the Herd's good side. Yes!

"Hi..." I said to Louis, returning the gesture. "I-It's nice to...meet you all..."

As soon as those words left my mouth, Peaches then suddenly came up with an idea, one that I didn't know would change my quest for the better. "Hey, Louis and I were going to go and hang out with Ethan and the girls. You wanna come?"

"Uh, s-sure..." I managed to reply. Just like Amy did back in Sonic's apartment, I was trying so hard to stop myself from squealing.

"Come on then!" My new friend gestured for me to follow her, enthusiastically. Just as I was about to, some of the adults walked up and apologised for the attack earlier. Granny seemed impatient as she wanted to find her pet Precious, but she also looked interested to get to know me. "Welcome to the house kid."

I couldn't help but let an amused smirk appear on my mouth. "Thanks..."

Once I passed Manny, I looked at him with a hopeful spark in my eye, but all I got was a nod and a frown. Clearly, he wasn't fond of me. Having seen all four Ice Age movies and the Christmas short, I knew that Manny was only like this when he first meets someone. The good news was that after you spend more and more time with him, Manny changes from a cold and moody mammoth to a kind and loving one.

To get him to that stage would take a VERY long time...

Despite the fact that I felt nervous, I was ready. Deep down however, I hoped that none of the animals would end up murdered like Elise unfortunately did. God, I wish I managed to save her in time. I thought that if she was still here with us, she'd probably take charge of the situation and help me get on the Herd's good side.

She would've journeyed with us until the end. Maybe at some point, Sonic could have joined us therefore both him and Elise would have been together again. Just thinking about made me want to unleash my anger out on her murderer and release my guilt, desperately hoping for a chance of earning forgiveness. Hell, Silver's song 'Dreams of an Absolution' came into my head as the memories of Elise's death and my failure to save her flashed repeatedly.

"Hey!"

I was snapped back to reality when I heard Peaches shout out for me. "You coming?!"

Quickly pulling myself together, I placed the tough mask back on, picked up my rifle and began to follow my new friends. "Yeah, sorry. I just got caught up back there."

"Don't worry kid, it happens." Diego reassured me. "By the way, sorry for attacking you."

I just gave him a small smile. "It's fine, no need to keep apologising."

After that, we all just walked down the path leading to Switchback Cove. Some of the Herd were chatting away whilst I remained my usual state of silence, thinking about how my first proper friend was doing in the heavens, living on as a gentle spirit.

I miss you...