Chap 7!! at last! not bad for someone who can't concentrate on anything for more than ten minutes.

Sorry i could not wait any longer debit13 but I have a few p c probs of my own at the minute, it's move it or lose it with a lot of stuff including all pass words so I had to post.

And thanks pomishians for your plain English advise, I hope this is better, if not then I have no hope!

Oh yes and I still don't own it!

It was getting very late and Ellie was really regretting not going out with Manny earlier today. Why was he taking so long? Well it wasn't as if he was just going to say "Hi" to Diego and turn around to come back again, so she would give him another few hours before she did anything. Five minutes later she had rallied up her brothers and daughter and was oh so nearly ready to set out looking for Manny, if only she could get Sid to budge!

"No! I don't want to leave! The kids need me!!" Sid wailed.

"Sid Manny needs us!" Ellie said, then thought, He had better need help, because if he is having fun or worse an adventure without getting me first then he is in real trouble! "Oh come on Sid the kids will still be here when we get back"

"No. I will not sacrifice my happiness for that melancholy mammoth! I have searched too long!" Sid replied, stubbornly folding his arms, honestly that Manny was out to ruin his day on purpose he was sure.

"Can we not just leave him?" Crash asked.

"It's not as if we need him." Eddie added. The possums sat on either tusk reminding Ellie of the little voices of reason you sometimes got in the form of a devil and an angel. It was just her luck to get two little devils! And Sid to boot!

"I have feelings!!! Not that any of you guys have ever cared." Sid wailed.

"Too right we don't you, you smelly drama queen..."

"Crash! Not helping!" Ellie snapped, she was not going to let them get off topic, "Well if you change your mind Sid, because seeing as we risk a lot every time you need us then, well, you know where to find us" Ellie was in rather a devilish mood herself, she could do with a helpful little angel voice to give her some patience right now.

"I'll see you later guys later then" Sid called while waving them off more in a 'shooing' manner rather than in a 'good bye' kind of way.

Reluctantly Ellie left. Reluctantly because she could really lay into that ungrateful little sloth! Not that she would ever admit it but she could see why Manny was so short with him.

"Wow sis you really going to leave him?" Eddie said, he was a little in awe that she was not going to concede to Sid's bad behaviour finally. It irritated him how there was always someone in the herd willing to put up with Sid's out bursts, yet no one was ever even remotely tolerant to his and Crash's bombs and pranks. Well finally that Sloth had got what was coming.

"Do we have to comeback for him ever?" Crash asked as if he could read his brothers mind, maybe he could?

Ellie bit her tongue; she had nothing nice to say and was well aware that Peaches didn't need to know about her thoughts on Sid right this minute. She looked down to her daughter marching purposefully beside her. Despite it being way past her bedtime, Peaches marched with more resolve than Ellie did, and why wouldn't she? This was not just an adventure it was the all important task of putting the herd back together. Ellie held out her trunk for Peaches to hold with her own, and both girls smiled to each other, they were on a mission. Gosh this herd needed more girls.

Sid turned back to his crèche, only to find them yawning and returning to their parents for bed. He was alone. "Uh hey guys!" He quickly waddled over to catch his herd up "Let's go save Manny again then, I can see it's important to you and let's face you're going to need help"

"Again?" Ellie said with a playful tone of disbelief, Peaches her secret angel of reason had restored her patience back to what it should be.

The possums pulled faces of incredulity, the sloth had gotten away with it again! What couldn't Sid do or say, or sing for that matter and notend up in everyones good books regardless?

Sid noticed the possums glares at him but carried on regardless "Oh yeah, I've had to save Manny many times, and not just from himself either. Why there was this one time when we were being attacked by a monstrous prehistoric fish..."

"Sid we had actually joined the herd by then!" Ellie cut in dryly, she wasn't so patient that she was going to entertain any blatant fibs.

"Oh" Said Sid.

By now they had ventured a few meters out from the mammoth herd. It was very dark and getting much colder. It looked like this was going to be a tough search when Eddie spotted a Manny type shape up a head. "Hey guys! I think I found him!" He shouted.

Sid squinted into the dark "No that's just a rock; Manny's way, way, waaay wider than that"

"I can hear you Sid!" Manny's familiar voice came from out of the darkness. Peaches rushed out a head to meet him, then after a quick hug she pulled him back to Ellie to reunite her family, mission accomplished!

However now Ellie could see Manny a bit better she gasped, "Oh my gosh! Manny what happened?"

"Nothing" Said Manny bewildered, "Why?" Ellie was looking at him quite panicked.

"You look like you've been chewed up; your fur's a state! Are you hurt?" Ellie exclaimed.

"No I'm fine, I've just been to see Diego that's all"

"And did he jump up and maul you? You're a mess dude" Eddie said with a giggle.

"No, nothing like that, just stop jumping to conclusions before I can explain" Manny said feeling a bit self conscious now.

"Wait! I have a guess! He really missed you and went racing over and like, licked you..." Said Crash, well it was what his girl friend did the other night when they said good bye, it had been kind of sweet.

Manny had to shout his explanation out to stand a chance of explaining himself over the possums, so his 'happy news' was snapped more than a little forcefully at them "He has a whole bunch of kid's OK! And I've been playing with them! That's all, end of mystery!"

"What kind of kids?" Sid asked suspiciously, while the others cowered back from the angry Manny.

"The Diego kind,(Manny was well aware of the herd of mammoths not far off who he had just woken up with his shouting, so was careful with his words) And there's loads of them" He whispered. Manny braced himself to be pulled back the way he had just come by a very excited sloth.

"Oh, thatkind" Sid grumbled and turned away with an air of total indifference. After he had wandered sufficiently away to be alone, he pretended to be more interested in rearranging some pebbles with his feet whilst grumbling to himself " There will be plenty more hunting then, all day every day no doubt, never made him feel left out when it was my family. Then it was 'Oh Sid can I help with the fun and joy that you bring to everything you do?' And I was 'sure I don't mind sharing my family', and my herd now that I think about it. But now it's all his family and his stupid kind of fun...." Sid kicked a stone extra hard as he carried on.

Mean while Crash carried on unaware of the miserable sloth moaning away in the background. "We only left him yesterday he really works fast, even by possum standards!"

"He's only looking after them" Manny corrected while watching Sid surprised at the sloths reaction. He was relieved in a way as that had been enough walking for one day, but annoyed also because now he would have to council Sid on something no doubt really stupid, again.

"That sounds so cute we should go see tomorrow" Ellie said well aware that Peaches was yawning already for such a trip tonight. Any girl otherwise would gladly walk all night for the chance to play with kittens. Two nights if ponies are involved!

"Some of us might have things to do tomorrow! " Sid shouted, annoyed that his pebble rearranging had been totally lost on Ellie.

"Oh well, whenever then, I guess he'll have them a while." Ellie said while looking over to Manny and pulling a face to enquire 'what's up with Sid?'

Manny shrugged to reply, 'what's not up with Sid?'

Well she wasn't going to venture into that right now as this herd was so childish; she would wait for a more private moment to talk heart to heart with him. She gave a dismissive yet elegant wave of her trunk to say 'it can wait till morning now I'm sure'.

Manny rolled his eyes implying 'she took that sloth far too seriously'. Ellie ignored him; she was far too nosy to leave this totally alone.

The possums looked from Ellie to Manny, and wondered when they had started using this new code language to keep secrets from them?

A horribly cold gust of wind blew around them all, reminding them that it was late and they were still out in the open.

Ellie heard carried on that breeze a distant and terrible screech. "Eddie I could be mistaken but isn't that your girl friend?" She said.

Eddie could not believe he had forgotten that he had grown up recently and slapped his own brow.

"Why does she have to scream like that?" Manny asked.

"It is a very sophisticated means of communication allowing for long distance talk to take place between friends actually Manny" Was the possums tart reply. He didn't really understand what it meant but decided he could use it to boast his own secret language.

"Still sounds terrible" Manny concluded.

"Well your voice isn't too everyones taste either, now if you will excuse us!" Eddie bounced off in the direction of that scream with Crash hot on his heels.

"Possums don't usually scream, do they?" Manny asked Ellie.

"No, that is unique to that possum" Ellie paused as a long and mournful wolf howl sounded seemingly in answer to the screeching scream. "I guess she won't be screaming like that for much longer though as she's attracting more than those boy's attention. Do you think we should make sure they're safe?"

"Ellie I can't see a thing in this dark, we will just end up tripping over looking for them. I'm sure they will be fine; they're all grown up now apparently after all. Let's just get out of this cold wind already; all this kitten slobber is freezing my fur"

Ellie, Sid, Peaches and Manny walked back to the mammoth herd and found a place sheltered from the wind to sleep. Ellie waited till Peaches was sound asleep and Sid snoring before asking Manny "So what's up with Sid do you think? He wasn't at all excited about playing with the cubs"

"I think Diego is seeing someone else and Sid is feeling left out, three's a crowd and all that" Manny replied.

"Really?" Ellie tried but failed not to sound to shocked.

"Well, he is looking after these kids for a 'lady friend' from a local pack, probably to impress her, and now Sid refuses to see him" Manny concluded, this explanation made sense to him at least. He looked to Ellie to see if she agreed, she was better with these kind of issues than he was he had to admit.

"So Sid's left out, well it was bound to happen they weren't going to stay single together forever" Ellie said, hoping it made sense.

"I thought they would" Manny caught Ellie's surprised look even in the dark, so explained." Think about it, Diego hates family situations and Sid is the most unlikely person to gross him out by falling in love. Sid hopes that if he's seen around Diego enough he will be considered cool by association and attract some blind girl, eventually. Perhaps she would have to be deaf as well as his voice would still grate"

"Hmmm. Why does Diego hate families? He wanted out of the herd before when Peaches was due didn't he?" Ellie Pondered out load.

"Maybe it was something in his past that made him miserable"

"And why does Sid want a family so very badly? He was so insistent that we got together for a happily ever after, and remember those eggs of his? How happy he was with them despite Diego having just left him?"

"Maybe there was something in his past that hit him on the head too hard?" Manny said while thinking desperately hard whether or not Sid was like that when they first met? Maybe he had hit Sid too hard and damaged him? No he had hardly touched him before Pinkie had come along and Sid was defiantly Sid then, so something indeed must have happened predating their acquaintance. Manny sighed in relief, he did not have to feel guilty for the way Sid was, just strangely responsible for his welfare.

"Manny why do you not know what happened to your best friends before you met them?"

"Uh, it never came up?" Manny replied, she was going to accuse him of being insensitive again wasn't she. But they only knew about his past because some human had decided to document (animate) it on his living room wall, stuff like that wasn't something that men liked to talk about.

"Well tomorrow it's coming up, I'm going to figure this out once and for all" Ellie said decisively, if you want something done and want it done right, then she really had to do it herself. This had been allowed to go on for too long; tomorrow this problem was at least going to get addressed!

"Yeah? Good luck with that!" Manny said. If Ellie wanted to go there, then he was not about to stop her. The whole experience might give her more sympathy as to what he had been up against all this time.

They both settled down to sleep; tomorrow was going to be a long day.

"Hi Emma" Called Eddie excitedly. Tonight he was going to show her the secrets behind his best ever pranks, he really felt that they were ready for that level of commitment.

"Hi Fleet" Called Crash and hugged her long wet tongue as Fleet welcomed him in her very unique way.

"And what happened to you guys last night?" Emma snapped! Eddie stopped in his tracks as he held his arms out to embrace her. Emma was not happy.

"We were hanging out with a few of my sisters friends" Explained Eddie.

"Oh were you now. Well I hope you had fun." Emma didn't mean a word of this.

Oblivious to her sarcastic tone Crash decided to tell her all about the great time they had had. "Yeah it was great you should have been there, there was stories till late into the night and then we held a skiing competition."

"I thought you wanted to grow up" Emma looked hard at Eddie and even tapped her toes in irritation. She had liked him, but maybe she had been mistaken. Maybe she should end this game with him, if he wasn't serious about this then maybe nor was she anymore.

"We decided the other night that I was grown up enough, remember? Emma why are you so mad?" Eddie asked.

"Thatwhat you were doing last night all sounds like baby stuff to me! Grown up's should be looking for a place to live and think more about how they are going to provide for a family" Emma said.

"We kind of travel a lot because well my sister eats far too much for any one place to provide, so we have to keep moving around!" Explained Eddie desperately trying to excuse himself. But both Manny and Ellie had enjoyed the stories and games just as much as he did, so it wasn't that bad! Surely Emma was over reacting! He remembered how much trouble Manny had getting together with Ellie then and wondered if indeed this wasn't payback for being unforgivably naughty back then.

"But that's no life for a stable family environment!" Emma snapped. "Well, while you have been away playing, I have been looking for a hollow tree of our own, now come see what I found"

"Um, I was wondering if actually we could just have fun tonight" Said Eddie with the kind of puppy dog eyes that meant he always got his way with anyone else.

"Fun! You can have all the fun you like when the kids are grown up and left, now come on" Emma bounded off expecting Eddie to follow.

Eddie looked desperately to Crash his expression read clearly 'save me!!!'

Crash gave him a wave and turned instead to his girl friend Fleet "So what do you fancy doing this fine evening?" She may be a wolf and the relationship may have its limitations, but boy did he ever get the right sister to go out with.

"We could play out in the valley; see if we can go faster than ever before" Fleet said with a lot of wonder to her voice.

"Excellent plan" Well it wasn't practical jokes with his brother but it wasn't growing (or throwing) up either. Plus, he thought positively Eddie will be going through a midlife crisis soon enough anyway and would need to get in touch with his inner child again. Until then he had such a lot of material to tease him with! He was going to have more fun with this then they had had with poor old Manny easy! He tried hard not to rub his hands and laugh out loud in an evil manner.

Eddie reluctantly followed Emma. She could be very sweet sometimes, or was that she looked very sweet and was the first girl that he had encountered that he wasn't related too? He was going to have to think about that because the thought of leaving his herd and brother to live in a stupid tree was not good. And it was all so soon too. Well maybe this was how fast these things happened, but he felt that they really should know each other for a couple of weeks before house hunting. Eddie got a terrible case of 'cold foot' and stopped following Emma. "Emma we got to talk"

"Right after you see this!" Emma pointed to a large hollow tree in front of where he had stopped.

Eddie gazed upon it in wonder, it looked just like the tree he grew up in. It even had a ground floor garage area where they had kept Ellie before she could climb. Also when she fell too hard and bent her trunk she would stay there, mum considered it safer. With such warm fuzzy thoughts Eddie forgot his cold feet and ventured in, just to see.

It wasn't as good as it had looked, it needed a lookout post.

"Come see this next one, it's bigger and has turrets!" Emma said, her mood had swung back to cheerful now she was getting her way.

"Then can we have fun?"

"Sure" She replied noticing that he wasn't yet sold on the whole idea that this was the fun game. "Relax this gets better as we go on!"

"Alright one more"

Emma grinned and led on. In fact she led him on all night.

Eddie and Fleet spent a long night not being grown up. Then at early dawn Fleet unexpectedly slowed down. She was physically unable to continue running madly around after things anymore and her stomach rumbled. She began to whine.

"What's wrong?" Exclaimed Crash, was she broken?

"I'm really hungry" Whined Fleet desperately sad.

"Why didn't you just say? What do you eat?" Crash asked, maybe he could fix this, she was his friend after all.

"What Emma gives me?" Fleet wasn't really sure she should explain what Emma gave her.

"Huh?"

"She finds my food for me, she always has, but lately she seems to want to play with the food instead"

This was lost on Crash "Well maybe I can help to feed you"

"Oh but I like you now. I'd feel real uncomfortable. I don't have many friends." Whined was very hungry, it had been quite a while now since she last ate. So as much as she didn't want to, she agreed because she really didn't know when her next meal would be and at least this would tide her over a while. Maybe I should start to learn for myself she thought, if only someone would just show me how first! "Oh well if you really don't mind" Fleet lowered her head to eat Crash.

"Aw, think nothing of it, really!"

rash. She was really going to miss him, and what if she did this bit wrong! But she was so hungry.

Crash presumed she was going to lick him again for being sooo great! "No I don't mind you see I have a friend who eats meat and I bet he won't mind sharing with you!" He said just as the jaws got really close.

Fleet paused as this news worked its way into her brain "Great! That's even better, because you're my first boy friend and I think that may have counted as 'ending badly' "

"Aw, we wouldn't have to split, I understand we have differences! Just come with me back to my place and I'll ask him"

"Great jump on and we can run!"

"Great!" Crash felt good, for the first time he was useful.

Dawn saw Sid wake up extra early, and with the stealth of a super ninja, he crept away from the sleeping Manny and Ellie.

Peaches was also awake. She had been content up until now to watch the sunrise, but now she got up to follow him. She tip toed also with great skill behind Sid wondering what he was up to. Sid ducked behind a particularly large pile of poop (a rock or hedge would have been nice but you have to keep things realistic) and then he risked looking back to see if Manny had yet noticed the gapping great hole in his life since his disappearance. He came eye to eye with Peaches and screamed very girl like in terror.

Peaches giggled.

Sid had woken most of the camp and quickly ducked down out of sight. "Quick! Peaches help hide me!" Sid whispered desperately.

"Why? What are we playing?"

"This is not a game! Manny, uh your Daddy wants to understand my problems of late and he has no qualifications for such actions, so I must not let him! I can't blame him for trying, he sees me do it all the time and I do make it look easy, but it takes great skill, skill which takes a life time to possess"

"Weren't we going home today?"

"Yes we were but I've got to prove that I'm a good parent first. Once Manny, Daddy sees that, he will be on my side when I come to tell Diego off"

"Why are you going to tell Diego off for?"

"For snatching my only lifelong dream! And being better at it than me! And now he's gone and got loads more kids without even consulting me first! We were a team, but no! He had to have all the glory when he saw what a good thing I had! He had to steal it all for himself and make me look useless because I'm not a predator like them and can't understand all their instincts and whatever else they have in common that I don't'. Well I will show him who's best, they will all know who's best!"

"I don't know if that was so bad, he was only trying to help, everyone thinks you need help uncle Sid"

"Well I don't, and I'm going to prove it"

"How?"

"I really don't know. Help me think of something"

"Why don't you go home and be a good parent? "

"No too obvious, I wanted something more attention grabbing. I know I will volunteer myself to be bait in big Mick's trap. Then they will all remember how much they need me and then everyone will be sorry"

"Uncle Sid, that is really silly"

"It worked before with 'the emissorator' (that massive waterfall he went to jump off of in 2). Watch and learn Peaches, this is how to win friends!"

"I'm telling dad"

"Oh no, it's got to be a surprise" Sid looked back to where Manny and Ellie slept, while others had been woken up by his pathetic screaming, they slept on. Well they had had years of getting used to Sid's pathetic screaming after all. Sid breathed a sigh of relief. "Peaches you have to promise not to tell Manny... or else!"

"Or else?"

"Or else I will steal your nose!"

"You can't..."

Sid did the old 'I got your nose trick!' his long claw looked deceptively like a little trunk wiggling in his clutched paw.

"Give it back!" squealed Peaches.

"Not unless you promise not to tell your Dad!"

"I promise!"

Sid pretended to plant the never missing trunk back into place. "Now go play with the other kids Peaches, uncle Sid has some important stuff to do" Sid snuck off leaving a traumatised and worried Peaches to deal with the aftershock of having been blackmailed into doing something she knew was wrong. Luckily Peaches was very mature for her age and came up with a solution quite quickly, she would tell her Mum what Sid was up to and then she would tell Dad. Then Sid would get told off for being so bad again and Peaches would have kept her promise and so would keep her nose. She went back to her parents and tried to wake them but they were both sound asleep. It took little Peaches fifteen minutes to finally rouse her mother and by then it was too late.

Manny and Ellie woke up to find big old Mick standing over them looking rather smug.

"Manfred! It's nice to see you're still with us!" Then on closer inspection Mick plucked from Manny's hundreds of thousands of hairs, a single cat hair, "Yes so nice that your still with us after what must have been a very close encounter indeed, wont you please enlighten me as to how you are still with us?"

"How did that get there?" Manny Said. "Boy you would think I went out looking for trouble!" his visit yesterday was causing way more hassle than it had been worth.

"Well I had better let you know, Old Bill went missing yesterday" Said Mick, after a dramatic pause he went on."So no more going out on your own, it's too dangerous at the moment".

"How do you know Bill is not just out strolling?" Ellie Asked.

"We called him for ages when we noticed he was missing, searched the whole valley in teams, we found no sign of him. But we did find our perfect ambush sight! And now we have our bait thanks to you Manny. Who would have thought that sticky little sloth would be so...." Mick was going to say stupid but thought of a better word for the occasion in time "plucky! So don't you guy's worry, we will have this saber problem of ours cleared up in no time at all!" Mick walked off with that to prepare his trap.

"What's he talking about?" Ellie asked Manny once they were alone.

"There seems to be a pack of very strong sabers, and it would seem that they have a taste for mammoth" replied Manny with a depressing sincerity to his voice.

"Well how do we know it's not the humans? Or that he just doesn't want to be found?"

"Mick has made it his mission to squash every predator going starting with this saber pack regardless, and now he's using our Sid to lure them. How did he get hold of Sid from under our trunks?"

"Sid went to them! He wants attention and for you to think that he is a good parent" Peaches said finally. Well she had not told so she had kept her promise, she had just explained why.

Manny and Ellie both looked at each other. Manny smirked.

"What's so funny?" Ellie asked.

"They will be waiting a long time, Diego said last night about the sabers being out of town while he looks after the kids"

"Which means that they didn't kill Old Bill" Said Ellie

"This means I will have to save Sid before whatever did kill Bill comes after him! Oh and here I was thinking I could just leave that sloth to get out of his own mess for once" grumbled Manny.

"Well maybe we could save him after breakfast, after all if they ate a whole mammoth last night then they aren't going to eat smelly old sloth too soon" encouraged Ellie. She always did manage to see the bright side.

"Good thinking, sometimes I got to wonder if we're the only sane mammals here" Manny said. He was feeling quite contented that Ellie understood his way of thinking more than any other mammoth he had ever met.

Well here it is, it's not much but it's where we hang out" Crash said as he climbed down off of Fleet. "Hi Diego, I was wondering if..." Crash stopped when he saw Diego.

Diego was standing with his back arched high and his fur on end. When he realised it was just one wolf and not a pack he calmed himself down and sat as if not noticing the new comers, other than to talk to Crash. (ultimate insult by cat standards)

"Crash there is a stinking, great, stupid wolf right behind you"

"Yeah I know, this is my friend, Fleet"

"That isn't staying!" Diego stated more than just said.

"That is my girlfriend pal, and she's not done anything to you!" Said Crash, he remembered how Diego had not liked him and his brother for a long time when they first joined the herd. Obviously he had trust issues.

"Just look at her with her slack jaw, stupid expression and slobber; we already got Sid looking gormless we don't need a stupid dog messing up the place as well" Diego snapped.

"But ten more cats is ok?" returned Crash.

"Cat people are smart; these (the cubs) make our herd extra smart"

"Anyone with more than two cats are known as 'crazy cat people' actually!" Said Crash and turned to walk back to Fleet. He soon came to an unexpected halt as his string like tail was being held by three sets of small paws.

Diego who had been thinking about how actually every time he had sat with just one feline friend it was good, but whenever there was a pack of them, then things soon became indeed a bit crazy, and strange obsessive behaviour indeed took over. He stopped thinking too deeply about the reasons behind that when he noticed the cubs play with Crash's tail, he had a good idea. "Ok she can stay if you look after my kids for a while"

"Wow really you'd let me play with them? What do I do?" After all they, like everything else, were too big for Crash too physically control.

"Just run around and let them chase your tail until they can't stand up any more, easy!" explained Diego while thinking how easy his life was now going to be.

"Easy!" Exclaimed Crash with childish delight before remembering why he had come here in the first place. "Ah, wait what's in it for me huh? Fleet needs food, so you help her and I will help you, that's fair!"

"I'm not feeding your dog"

"Then I'm not playing mouse"

"Ok already!" Diego said sounding like a crabby teenager, "Come on doggy let's make this quick" thank goodness Sara's pack was out of town and no one was going to see this. "And Crash if anything happens to them while I'm gone; you know accidents and such, try and keep count of any fatalities! I can't stand looking for them any more then I have to!"

Crash looked at the little cubs with great pity; there was a great lack of love in this camp.

"What do we do?" Asked Fleet excitedly, she trotted alongside the sour cat stopping to trot on the spot every four steps or so, so not to overtake too much.

"What can you do?" growled Diego; everything about her irritated him to his core.

"I can run! I can run all day, every day!" Fleet boasted with more than a little pride.

"And what else?"

"What else is there?" Fleet looked blank as she said this, like she had suddenly become very lost.

"Well can you herd things?" Diego asked.

Again Fleet looked blank.

Diego without being to patronising tried talking more slowly and clearly to the wolf. "If I wait over there" He pointed with a paw making sure she was following, "by those trees, can you chase those caribou over to me?" Fleet stood motionless and blank. At least she isn't breathing like a steam train any more, Diego thought. He carried on explaining hoping that this was sinking in on some level. "Then I can take one as it runs by in a classic 'pack hunting' technique, you must have done this before?" Well he wasn't all clued up on wolf hunting methods, but they had to be similar to his own pack.

"No, never" Said Fleet honestly.

"Then how have you got to be a year old?" He guessed at her age, well she looked about that, 'ish.

"Well my sister feeds me small critters usually, but she doesn't seem to keen on playing that game lately, she seems to have a new one" Replied Fleet quite sad that Emma was best friends with Eddie now. Did that mean that she was never going to feed her again?

"Odd" Diego said, he had never heard of just two wolves travelling around together, "So where's your pack?"

"No pack, just sister"

"Dog, uh is she a wolf your sister?" It did hurt him to be polite, but she looked a bit pitiful now she stood still, thin and young, and lost.

"Possum!" Fleet answered cheering up at the thought of her friend. Maybe Crash, who looked like Emma, minus the hips, might look after her now!

"Strange" Diego said more to himself than anything, this herd seemed to attract nutters "But you know you're a wolf right?" Well he was curious.

"Duh, of course" said Fleet looking at Diego like he was nuts.

Diego decided to leave it at that, he wasn't going to care about some stupid pup. "Well let's hunt!"

Fleet ran off to circle around the herd and began to herd (not just chase) them in the right direction.

The hunt went like text book. Diego picked an old frail individual and took it down without incident; it was all over within half an hour of starting.

.

Fleet was back beside Diego in an instant, he could not be sure but he thought she was begging. "Well eat then" He told her, he wasn't going to have to explain eating to her as well, was he?

Fleet edged up to the carcass and picked up a hoof, then like a snake tried to swallow it whole. Needless to say she didn't get too far with that approach so tried instead jabbing it with her paw. Diego sat back amused that she didn't know where to start, his amusement evaporated however when he realised he was going to have to be responsible after all and teach her how to deal with a meal this big.

This took ages as she was a slow learner, but they got there in the end and once fed they concentrated on what they could carry back to the cubs. Diego pulled off a big cut to carry, Fleet did not. She ate the cut Diego gave her to carry and made to head back.

"Hey wait up, we are both taking some back" Diego snapped at her unable to tolerate her stupidity any more.

"I know" replied Fleet.

"So get some to carry back" Growled Diego.

"I have" Replied Fleet wagging her tail.

"Get some that I can see to carry back!"

"You never said that" Well she did to make him happy. Then she half buried the scrapes that were left, she didn't know why she did that but it felt a very natural thing to do. Then she raced to catch the plodding tiger up, ran a few excited circles around him, realised that he wasn't going to play and plodded respectfully behind, as best she could.

.

When they got back the cubs had Crash trapped. He sat out of reach on a boulder swinging his tail side to side as they leapt and grabbed for it without hope of actually reaching him. They turned as one as Diego and Fleet returned and raced over to relieve them of their food. The food was gone seemingly before it even hit the ground; it was lost in the mass of small hungry mouths. The instant that it was lost from view the cubs forgot that it had ever been there at all and started at the adults looking for more.

Fleet felt her mothering instants take hold as they crowded around begging and barfed up some more food for them. The cubs fell on 'round two' just as vigorously before Diego could say please don't eat that, instead he just grimaced.

"That's sick" Crash found his voice (It is what wolves do)

Fleet wagged her tail, now the cubs would be full, she had done good! She began to clean them while they were occupied and less likely to wriggle.

Diego watched suspiciously to make sure she did not eat them at first, and then relaxed. All in all he patted himself on the back for being so resourceful, they were all fed and washed and it wasn't even midday yet! Who needs Sid? He had man's best friend right here. She even played with them some teasing them with a bit of stick.

By now it was midday and that is snooze time. Crash carefully lowered himself down from his high boulder and hiding his tail behind his back so not to attract attention crept over to Diego.

"So the guys not back yet then huh!" crash said, it had been the plan to comeback today when he left last night. He wondered what had happened.

"Nope" Replied Diego."Just what's so great over there anyway?"

"Nothing really" Replied Crash "Our herd's way better; they do have some good slopes though"

"Humph"

"So what are their names?" Crash asked wistfully as the cubs cuddled up around Fleet and her soothing maternal skills.

Diego felt a pang of jealous anger that they could be so disloyal to him, but did not call them back as they were now dripping with wolf slobber where she had gotten carried away with the cleaning. He didn't even like them anyway! He dismissed the alien feeling and tried to recall what Crash had just said "There's Snowball, he's the big white one ... Uh I don't know the rest" He admitted finally.

"You don't know? How long have you had them?" Crash asked, with a small amount of horror to his voice.

"Since the night before last" Seemed like ages. "'Hey you', will do they are all usually bad at the same time anyway"

"And I thought I wasn't ready to start a family but you take the biscuit! That is just terrible"

Being told off by Crash! Diego shuddered, how he had ever come to this personal low! "I never wanted any of them, there is a big difference! Anyway they are fed and clean and safe thanks to me, so I can't be that bad" Diego said, a bit hurt at the criticism.

"Do you feel grown up having the cubs around? I mean do you feel any different?" Crash continued in his wistful tone.

"I'm tired, my temper is even shorter, I don't think a minute has gone by that I haven't rolled my eyes, and I'm sure I'm starting to lose my hair, that could just be moult though."

"No change then" Crash sighed with relief. "When Eddie wanted to grow up I was worried we would have to change, but I think that I am just perfect as the fun loving cool dude I am now. I have a lot to give"

"Oh please responsibility, strict rules and a clear heavy hand is needed when bringing up kids, probably why you possums turned out to be such miscreants"

"No this is just the way possums are, its fun! I wouldn't want to be anything else. Are all sabers brought up to be guarded, inhibited, sarcastic and aggressive loners made to feel inadequate all their lives till they finally die trying to best each other?"

"Yeah I suppose we are." Diego siged remembering the fun bickering that went on in his own pack.

"That explains why you're so messed up and miserable then"

"It's the right attitude to get through a very tough life style. Beat or get beaten. Do or die, survival of the fittest, and all that"

"I'm sure. Still miserable though. Good thing you didn't think like that when you met Sid and Manny"

"I did, but that was different, then it was survival, now it's about providing when I think like that again, a bit" It was slowly dawning on Diego not only was he reverting back to his old tiger ways, but he was also becoming his cantankerous old dad. This had to stop! he had to start having fun again before it was too late "Nothing serious, shouldn't have said that, Your looking worried now, I wouldn't ever get that bad tempered really"

"When you met Manny and Sid you were going to eat them right, back when you were really tetchy"

"Maybe, but my pack made me tetchy"

"How long did it take for them to become your friends?"

"Three days. I changed my mind after three long days, why?"

Oh no reason, Crash counted on his hand how long the herd had been separated for and decided it was time they got back together if he wanted to continue to boast a saber as a friend to any potential prank critic seeking revenge on him "Well it's getting late we'd better go" He mock stretched and headed over to shake Fleet awake.

"Go where?" Diego asked suspiciously. They were having fun over there weren't they!

"See what Ellie and Peaches are up to. See if we're moving yet, you know"

"If you see Sid tell him to get back here, like really tell him to get back here! Say it like you mean it!"

"Sure I will, come on Fleet"

"And she might not be welcome around Manny's new friends; mammoths are very, well like mammoths"

"You can say that again no fear of laughing up there that's for sure, or here now that I think about it!" Crash said as he left, he had not been aware of it before but the fun that he and Eddie provided was essential to eveyones well being! They had to get back to work as soon as possible!

The cub's looked longingly after Fleet as she went. Then they stumbled over to Diego to pinch his body heat. Diego felt like such a tied down house wife waiting for everyone to return. Well he wasn't going to wait around any longer! He was going for a walk. He pulled himself up out from under them. "Come on kids let's go prey spotting" He didn't wait for a reply he just expected them to follow.

The cubs were full and tired but Diego set an easy pace and curiosity was too great to resist. Hunting was really important and really fun so they stumbled after him. One little spotty brown cub made a point of walking by his shoulder. Swatting no doubt, he ignored her along with the rest.

As Manny,Ellie and Peaches ate a very long breakfast together news of another hunt on the plains below was whispered about the herd, followed by 'Big Mick will sort it all out'.

Manny heaved a great sigh of irritation. He could ignore it no longer, he would have to go find Sid. Ellie was about to accompany him when a younger mammoth approached her sheepishly despite his 'hard core' appearance.

"Ellie" He said.

She turned "Yes Jeremy"

"We were wondering if like, you wanted to try this new game we kind of invented. We call it tobogganing"

"What's that?"

"Well after we were woken up really early, some of us started carving some ice runs, you can go a lot faster on ice than on snow you know, but it really smarts when it wears a whole through your fur. So we have just gathered a load of hollow old trees and made cars out of them. It's all ready if you want to give it a try"

"We-ell" Ellie looked to Manny with a pleading 'can we please do this first?' look in her eye.

"You go ahead hon. I can get this" Manny said pleased that Ellie would be kept out of any harm's way, well other than the self inflicted harm anyway.

Ellie squealed in reply and scuttled off Leaving Manny and Peaches. Manny had expected Peaches to go with her but Peaches was set on putting her herd, and her fun back together. Manny noticed the other children milling about in a play ground of ice and snow and promptly deposited Peaches off with them.

"Now stay with the other kids till Daddy gets back with naughty old Uncle Sid, I won't be long!" Manny knew that Peaches wasn't happy but she would be safer there, and this would only take a few minutes surely.

Peaches looked at the other kids. They were still boring. She wandered off over to the cliff edge and admired the fine view over the vast valley below and there she spotted her uncle Diego directly below. Being responsible for her age she waited till she was sure it was him, yep that white blob was Snowball, she disappeared over the edge of the cliff to climb down and see if they were doing anything interesting today.

Terrible place to stop but I need to think more before I commit... so there.

Also please send all happy healing thoughts this way urgently!! My happy chick is sick! This makes her extra cute as she lays on my foot rather than just stands on it, even when ill she is the coolest hen in england! Rem happy healing powers this way please!