III. Journeys

Diego was unsure as to how he should react to anything around him. His dream to kill his friends was beyond his control, and he most certainly would not wish harm to any of his friends under any circumstances. However, Diego's need to interact with more of his own kind certainly tugged at his mind as well.

"Any sort of communication would be nice…any sort of living mammals."

Despite that idea, he was also well aware of who he was. Diego was, and always will be, a saber – that was what he needed to talk to.

"Even if I do meet another pack of sabers…will I be able to hunt?" It wasn't very long for Diego to realize that his words were simply vanishing into the air around him.

If I'm going to think about something, I might as well not talk about it. Might as well save my breath.

He took another glance at the prints. Coincidentally, Diego's idea of heading north was shared with whatever passed through and killed the gazelle.

I am sure of it…almost 100% sure…maybe. I slept in front of the tree; I woke up in front of it. His mind began to rant within itself.

What would be the point of me following the tracks if there's a chance that I won't find anything at all? Whatever it is, it might be gone by now…

He wasn't entirely confident about there being any sort of an animal presence in the direction of the tracks. Even so, Diego had no other choice but to follow them. He needed to come to a consensus with himself as to whether or not he would return to his former herd, or seek a new life – and he had to decide now.

…another adventure wouldn't hurt, I guess.

Diego bolted out of the tall grass, wide awake and fully alert. If all it took was a bit of tracking to help settle a few uncertainties in his thoughts, it was worth it to him. He studied the tracks once more to make sure he was heading in the right direction, and shook his paws clean. Then, he started to walk north, keeping aware of his surroundings; his dreams, his conscience, and his current reality were more than enough for him to handle, and his state of mind wouldn't become any better revisiting Manny…or the rest of the herd.

A brisk wind was blowing. The sound of the dry leaves blowing in the air broke the silence around the herd. It was enough to bring Manny out of his sleep. Manny groaned as he adjusted to a standing position, lifting his large mass off of the ground. A few leaves fell on top of his tusks while he began to stand. After shaking them off, he began to move around. His heavy steps caused the ground to shake, causing Sid and the two possum twins to snap out of their already light sleep. Crash rushed away from the noise and moved to safety, as if he was in any danger.

Crash let out a short yell, unsure as to what was causing the occasional thud. He rushed back to the area where he was sleeping to find his brother.

"Eddie!" Before he could turn around to search further, a hand struck Crash behind the head. Eddie was directly behind him, giggling. Crash hit him back. After a quick glare from Eddie, the typical possum play-fight ensued. Sid giggled as they rolled around in the same area, grabbing tails and locking heads. The fight was quickly separated by Manny's trunk.

"Come on, you two – you aren't getting any stronger fighting with yourselves." Manny smirked knowing that what he said was honestly true. The possums put their heads down and started talking under their breath. Manny began to stir around in the area.

"Ellie…?" Manny took a look around to see that she wasn't in sight. A moment of confusion soon turned into an eternity of panic. The heavy footsteps began to occur more frequently as he frantically searched for his mate. Crash and Eddie headed in the opposite direction to help look, hearing Manny's panicked voice dim away as they began to separate themselves.

"Manny! We're not all as tall as you down here! Give me a lift!" Manny dropped his head for Sid to climb on it.

"You should be grateful that I'm not leaving you behind for Ellie."

"Oh, I'm sure everything will be fine. Before she met you, she spent her entire life thinking that she was a possum! And she made it just fi–." Manny stopped before Sid finished his sentence and glared upward. Sid stood silent.

Manny began to stir again out of panic.

While Crash kept running in the opposite direction, Eddie paused for a moment to think.

"…Ellie does like to go on her own sometimes." Eddie said to himself. "Maybe she went to find more clues?"

Eddie quickly turned around and went back toward Manny, who was moving erratically.

"Manny!" Eddie knew that his voice was a bit too small for Manny to hear when he was stirring around. He jumped onto Manny's tail, climbed up his mountain of a body, and got up to his ear.

"Manny – you of all people should know Ellie likes to do things on her own. Maybe she's looking for Di—"

A very high pitched shriek filled the silence. Crash turned back around.

"What the heck was that?" The scream not only surprised Crash, but frightened him as well. Oddly enough, he was usually the one who remained unfazed when it came to anything. Eddie stood motionless on Manny's head. No one knew who or what made that sound, but with Ellie not being in his site, Manny thought the worst.

"Eddie, get on, now."

"I'm Crash!"

"Just get on, will you!?" Crash didn't hesitate to jump on Manny's leg and climb onto him with that tone of voice. Manny began to walk once he felt Crash on his back.

Manny's slow walk quickly turned into a fast one as he tracked north, past the scattered pile of leaves they had found the night before. "She's got to be around here...anywhere!" Desperation began to set in, and it was clear in his voice. Crash and Eddie looked at each other with droopy faces, unsure as to where Ellie might be.

The speed of Manny's heavy steps began to increase as they ventured northward. He did not care to look in any other direction other than in front of him.

"Manny!" A voice came from behind him as he kept charging forward. Sid, Crash, and Eddie all jumped off Manny's back in response the voice. Manny charged a bit further before realizing that the mammals were no longer on his back.

"Manny, what's the rush?" Manny immediately turned around to the sound of the voice.

"Ellie, is everything alright? Are you hurt? Did you s–…" Manny's voice was quickly interrupted.

"I'm alright, I'm alright. It's you that I'm worried about. I yelled because of this…" She extended her trunk in the direction of a tattered gazelle carcass. The other mammals looked at the dead body for a moment before turning away in disgust. Sid walked closer to the dead gazelle before noticing something just in front of tall grass.

"Diego?" The herd turned to and walked toward Sid in unison, looking around. He pointed to an imprint within a patch of mud.

Ellie walked to the mud patch.

"Unph." She dropped her head and winced for a split-second. "These are tiger tracks alright."

"These footprints look a bit too light to be Diego's…it's only been a night since he disappeared." Manny wasn't quite sure what to think about the prints. "If there's any lead to follow, it's this one. We might as well start moving sooner than later." Manny began to follow the prints northward.

"Nuh-uh, I'm not walking the entire way. No way. You're my transportation." Sid grinned for a moment before trying to keep up with Manny, as his request was completely ignored. "Ellie!?"

"Oh, sweetheart, do you want a ride?" Ellie turned to Sid with a smile on her face. Crash and Eddie took advantage of the ride by hopping on Sid's small head.