So ya wanna find out what happens to the herd? Will they get back together? You'll find out!
Chapter 9: No water, and no peace
Scrat grunted as he climbed a rocky mountain. He found out that the tall bird that had his acorn lived there, and he had to get it back.
He gasped when he finally climbed over to the second to last ledge. He was panting as he stood, then he finally came to his senses. He looked up and saw the bird standing there. And right in front of it was the acorn, which was in a pile of other stuff, including sticks, flowers, and turnips.
Scrat was thinking of an idea he could use to get up there. He was way too hot to climb any further. He looked around, trying to see if there was any vines he could grab. But he didn't see anything, and was afraid that he would have to climb some more. So he jumped up the next ledge, and struggled to get up, but he finally did, and started panting. He looked up again, where he saw the bird just standing there. He just had one ledge to go. He finally jumped up and grabbed a hold of the ledge. He grunted when he tried to pull himself up. He was way too tired, and just hung there, not trying at the moment.
Scrat suddenly heard a squeak. Huh? He looked up and saw the tall bird looking down at him. The squirrel gulped, hoping that the bird wouldn't do anything to him. The bird started to put it's head down, causing Scrat to close his eyes, being prepared for the bird to knock him over.
But when Scrat opened his eyes, he was surprised that the bird was holding him by the tail. The squirrel was very confused, and the bird carried him over, and dropped him in the pile where his acorn was.
Scrat's confused look turned into a huge grin, and he hugged his acorn tightly. Then he looked up at the bird, and smiled, thanking it for brining him up to get his acorn. The bird then grabbed the squirrel, which turned his grin into a frown, and started shaking him harshly. Scrat finally lost grip of his acorn, which fell all the way down. "AHHH!" Scrat stretched his arms down, wanting to get his acorn back. The bird finally released the squirrel, and he fell. "AHHHH!"
What a dumb bird.
Manny and Diego continued walking in the hot heat, which seemed to get much worse. Sandy was very week, and panted softly as she lay on Manny. Manny looked ahead to see if there was any water. Nothing but a tree. But that would work. "Hey," Manny started as he looked up toward the possum. "You ok?"
Sandy gasped a little, saying nothing.
"She's not ok," Diego answered for her. "She needs water."
"I don't see any water," Manny replied. "But there's a tree ahead."
"Alright then, let's go." Diego started walking ahead to the tree.
Manny suddenly felt guilty. "I can't believe I left her there," he said loud enough, just enough for Diego to here.
"I'm sure she'll be fine." Diego continued walking.
"It was wrong for her to stay there." Manny walked with Diego, and finally got to the tree.
"Well, it was either that or forcing her to go," Diego replied.
"I can't just force her to go. She's not just some object; she's a...living being."
Diego lay down to rest in the shade, and Sandy finally jumped off the mammoth and climbed in the tree.
"I don't know what to do."
"Manny," Sandy finally made a sound, "I'm really worried about my kids. And I miss them."
"Yeah, I even miss Sid," Diego said, smiling.
Manny sighed. "I just hope they're ok."
Crash and Eddie crawled on the ground around the tree. They became really hot, and not even resting was helping them.
"Ellie?" Sid started at Ellie. "It's even hotter than before, and standing here is not helping me."
Ellie sighed and looked at the sweaty sloth. She also looked at her brothers, who also looked sweaty. And she was, too. "Do you want to WALK in the hot weather?" She asked the sloth.
"Uhh...no. But I don't..." the sloth sighed, and sat down. "I don't know."
"Ellie?" Crash started, who was standing in front of the mammoth with his brother. "Standing's not helping, crawling's not helping..."
"What should we do?" Eddie asked.
Ellie sighed. "I don't know."
"We need water," Eddie continued as his brother nodded.
Ellie sighed again. "Well, if we want to find water right now, we'll have to walk in the heat."
The possums sighed. "I hate this," Eddie complained.
Ellie closed her eyes, then opened them again. "I don't know what's worse; hot or cold?"
"I'd say hot," Crash gave his opinion, "because when it's cold, you can find a warm place to stay. It's hard to find a cool place to stay right now."
"I'm gonna pass out," Sid said.
Ellie sighed, and thought for a moment. "I'm sorry, but I care so much about you guys. I'm going to go find some water."
"What!" the possums exclaimed. "You can't do that," Eddie tried to stop his sister.
"Yeah, you'll turn into a hot dog," Crash said.
"I don't care," Ellie replied. "I have to go."
"Then we're going with you," the sloth's voice came.
"And we're coming, too," Crash also agreed.
"Are...are you sure?" Ellie asked.
The possums said nothing, and just hopped onto Ellie's head, while Sid stood up. "We're ready," Sid said.
Ellie had nothing left to say. They all started to leave the tree, and went walking ahead.
"I can't take this anymore," Manny finally said as he stood up. "I gotta get them back."
Sandy gasped, not knowing what to say.
"Buddy, are you sure?" Diego asked as he stood up.
"I'm sure," Manny replied. "And nobody can change my mind."
Diego knew it was Ellie who Manny wanted to get the most. It seemed like Manny really cared about her, no matter what was happening between them. Diego respected that. "Then I'm coming with you."
"No. You have to stay here with Sandy."
"Manny, I should go, too," Sandy added.
"No one is going except for me!" Manny sighed. "You guys stay here; I'm going to get them back." Manny walked off, leaving the tiger and possum.
"Oh, I can't stand this heat," Crash complained.
"It's way too hot," Eddie also complained.
Ellie ignored her brothers, since she couldn't do anything about it. And Sid couldn't say anything at all since it was so hot.
"Do you see any water?" Crash asked Ellie.
Ellie stopped to look out. "No, I don't see anything."
"Man, we're like in a dessert."
Ellie continued walking.
"I see something!" Sid cried out.
"What?"
"Over there."
Ellie looked again. "I don't see anything."
"It's a...big...big..."
"I don't see anything either," Crash also said.
Sid just ignored them, and knew he saw something. He saw a big river with a beautiful water fall coming down. "It's over there!" Sid started running.
"Sid wait!" Ellie called softly. "There's nothing there."
"Water!"
Ellie ran after the weak sloth.
Sid started to breathe hard. "All...most...there!"
"Sid stop! Look out!"
BANG. Sid ran straight to a bolder, and hit it hard.
Ellie ran over to the sloth who started to moan. "Are you ok?"
Sid started to come up, when suddenly, something slithered out from behind the bolder, and hissed. The sloth gasped, when he backed up.
Ellie gasped with fear.
"Snake!" the possums cried out.
The sloth crawled all the way behind Ellie, who just stood there.
"Ellie, run!" Eddie exclaimed.
"Huh?" the mammoth finally blinked, and came to her senses.
"Run!"
The venomous snake slithered closer, and would not stop or turn away.
"We can't run. It's going to chase us."
"Uh..nice snake," Sid finally said, trying to kiss up to it.
"Ellie!" the possums cried out, when the snake came closer.
Ellie gasped, and backed up.
The snake hissed, when suddenly something attacked it.
Ellie was surprised when she saw a bear cub fighting it.
"Go Ellie!" Eddie exclaimed.
Ellie turned away from the bolder, and kept going, and also Sid.
Suddenly, some bigger claws hit the snake away from the cub. The cub looked up at its mother, who happened to be the same bear that attacked the herd earlier. It growled at the young cub, who finally got settled down. But the mother, though, looked ahead, as if she knew she was after something.
Scrat moaned as he finally rose his head after walking up from unconsciousness. He finally shook his head, and sniffed around. He gasped when he saw his acorn five feet away from him.
The squirrel excitedly ran toward his acorn, and hugged it. He then looked at the ground, and hoped it wasn't too dry. He wanted to keep his acorn safe, so he could go off and find some water. So he slammed it in the dry ground, but nothing happened. He then put his acorn down, and started digging, which seemed to work out well. He dug and dug, and he suddenly heard a voice.
"Mommy! Food!"
Scrat turned around, and saw a small beaver pick his acorn up. "AHHH!"
"Save it for later honey," the mother replied. "There isn't a lot of food around here." She walked away with her son, who carried the acorn.
"AHHH!" Scrat started running toward it, when he suddenly fell down a pit. He got up, and looked, and realized he was down deep. He jumped, and started to climb. He struggled a bit, but he finally made it to the ledge.
Scrat grunted as he tried to pull himself up. He suddenly saw that tall bird again coming near. He gasped, then let go of the ledge, letting him fall. He did not want to be thrown again by that dumb bird.
Ellie finally came to a sudden stop, when she saw a poor animal laying on the ground.
"Oh my gosh," Sid said.
"Is he dead, Ellie?" Eddie asked.
Ellie continued, not saying anything. She didn't want to worry her brothers that they would be next. "Look." Ellie saw a tree ahead, which seemed to have fruit in it.
The possums sighed. "We're saved!"
Ellie ran over there, as the sloth followed.
Crash and Eddie finally jumped off of Ellie when they got there, and started for the fruit.
Sid came walking toward Ellie, who seemed a little upset. "Ellie," he started.
The mammoth looked down toward Sid.
"Do you think Manny, Diego, and Sandy are ok?"
Ellie lowered her eyes and turned away from the tree. "I have to find Manny."
The possums gasped. "Why?" Eddie asked.
"Because..."
"You miss him?" Sid asked.
"We need him."
The possums just looked at each other, having nothing to say.
"Go ahead Ellie," Sid said. "We'll be ok."
"I...I'll be back," Ellie managed to say, and walked off.
The possums, though, didn't like the idea.
The possums and sloth weren't the only ones who couldn't stand the heat. Ellie hated it, too, even though she kept walking to find Manny, Diego, and her mother.
Ellie started panting, as she walked and walked. She finally stopped, and looked ahead. She hoped to find some water, but nothing. Yet, she wanted to find Manny even more. So she kept walking.
The tiger and possum sat silently under the tree. They didn't seem to be very close, and it was very awkward for the possum to be near a carnivore. "So..." Diego finally started, "you're Ellie's mother?"
"Yes, I am," Sandy answered.
"How long ago was it when you started raising her."
"Oh, she was really young."
There was a two 10 second pause before Diego could think of something else to ask. "How did it happen?"
Sandy was really shocked. She never knew how much a tiger would care. But she never struggled to tell.
She sighed. "When I was sleeping at dawn, I heard a sound: "I opened my eyes, and couldn't go back to sleep, when I heard the cries of some animal. I wanted to go see what it was, but didn't want to leave my children behind; Crash and Eddie. So I decided to take them with me.
Sandy remembered every picture that happened, and she thought of it as she told the story. "It was very cold; snowing everywhere. But even though it was cold, Crash and Eddie held on to me tightly, as I continued walking in the snow." Sandy remembered walking on all 4 paws.
"I heard the sound as I got closer. I continued walking in the forest, when I saw a big tree up ahead. So I walked toward there, and climbed. I looked ahead, to see what the sound was coming from. But even though I kept hearing the cries, I saw nothing."
Sandy then remembered Ellie coming under the tree. "About five minuets later, I saw a hairy thing come under the tree. Crash and Eddie were curious, but never did see for sure what it was. When I saw it curl up in a ball, trying to keep warm, I noticed that she was alone. I looked, and didn't see any herd coming. I then realized, that they were never to be found." Sandy then remembered coming down, hanging upside down from the tree. "I decided to take her." She knew that Crash and Eddie peaked out, and saw Ellie looking up.
"And I raised her, ever since."
Diego couldn't believe it, and Sandy couldn't believe she just told the story to him. "Wow," Diego started, "you're...a very curious animal."
Sandy looked at him curiously.
"What a story."
"Yes. It's all true. And it's kind of weird for me to..." she looked at the tiger, who looked at her curiously, "tell a carnivore," she continued.
When Diego heard those words, he lowered his ears, and looked ahead. He then remembered he felt sad; about...he started to think more clearly, and knew what it was. But he just couldn't tell; not to anyone. Who would understand him?
Sid sat under the tree, eating his fruit, as Crash and Eddie just stood there worriedly.
"That's it!" Crash finally snapped. "I can't take this anymore. I'm going with Ellie."
"Me too," Eddie agreed, who went off with his brother.
"Wait!" Sid exclaimed.
The possums stopped, and looked back.
"You can't!"
"Why not?" Crash asked.
"Because it's hot!"
"So?"
"Well, I don't want you guys to..." The sloth stopped when he realized how awkward it would be to tell them that he didn't want them to get hurt. But he had to say something, ...be hot," he finished the sentence.
The possums sighed, turned around, and started walking.
"Wait!" Sid exclaimed, as he dropped his peach, and ran with them.
The three walked and walked in the heat, all suffering, but never stopped. Sid, though, was starting to slow down, but never stopped.
"Where is she?" Eddie complained.
"I don't know," Crash answered in a whining voice.
"Guys," Sid finally broke in as he walked closer, "I don't think I can go any further."
The possums gave him an angry look. "Yes you can!" Crash finally said. "Now keep up the pace and keep walking."
"No I..can't." Once Sid got close to them, he fell forward on the ground.
The possums gasped. "Oh no!" Eddie exclaimed.
"Get him up," Crash said, as he and his brother pushed him, trying to get him up. "Come on."
Nothing happened. The sloth was unconscious, and the possums could not get him to wake up.
"What are we going to do?" Eddie asked. "We can't just leave him here."
"I know," said Crash. "Oh...I hope Ellie gets Manny soon."
Ellie panted as she continued walking in the heat. She thought she was going to die, but she never gave up. She kept walking, as she gasped for air.
Ellie started to loose her balance, and knew she couldn't go on. But she couldn't give up. The mammoth finally fell to the ground, and she lost her vision as her eyes closed.
Ellie started gasping hard, as she woke up 20 seconds later. It was really hot, but she thought she heard a voice calling her name. And she knew it was Manny. "Manny!" she called, as she got up and continued walking.
"Ellie!" the voice called again.
"Manny!"
"Ellie!"
"I'm right...here!" Ellie finally saw a shape coming toward her.
Manny finally got close to her. "Ellie, are you ok?"
Ellie's vision finally came visible, and she could see Manny looking at her. She smiled. "Yes, I'm ok now."
Manny sighed with relief.
SP-so now you know the background info of how Sandy found Ellie. Well, my version anyways. I hope you liked this chapter! I'm sure you guys are hoping for the herd to get back together and find out what's wrong with Diego. Once I get the next chapter posted, you'll find out!