Diego struggled against the female saber who had begun flailing her paws at him wildly in an attempt to keep some distance. Against the rapids, they found themselves fighting each other as well as the water, and Diego had found himself to be the better swimmer thanks to Sid.

Terra raked a claw along Diego's chest, but had realized to herself that doing so only made her regret the action as she was slammed against a rock in return. The current quickly proved to be quite a dangerous adversary forcing both sabers to exhaust strength just to stay afloat. She struggled, going under and swallowing water as she fought to resurface. Diego saw this as an opportunity and began to bear his weight down upon her head, forcing her under the water.

Terra quickly began to fight back, flailing her legs and kicking at Diego, who only pressed down harder. Things didn't go exactly as planned however, as Diego was caught by surprise with a kick to his groin, causing him to lurch and let go of her. She resurfaced, gasping for air as the two began picking up speed.

"YOU'RE CRAZY!" She screamed between breaths.

"YOU TRIED TO KILL ME FIRST!" Diego quickly replied.

"SO YOU CHOOSE TO DROWN ME!?" Diego shrugged at the comment, and lunged back at her. His swift movement caught her off guard, quickly closing the distance and allowing him to make the first move, again thanks to Sid...

He swatted her face, splashing water and forcing her to flinch. With that distraction he grabbed her head and flung her into another passing rock. A dull thud was heard followed by the saberess crying out in pain. When she turned her head back to him he quickly saw the damage he had done, causing a deep gash to form across the top of her head and behind her ear. She was dazed a bit, judging by her half closed eyes. He took the opportunity and attempted to swim his way towards her using the current as an ally. If he was to end this it would be now.

Sid waddled through the forest in search of his feline friend. Following the growls, grunts and cries seemed like a good idea to him, but now he couldn't hear any of it.. The only thing he could hear was rushing water.

Hmm... should probably follow it back...

He continued along, following the water to its source. In his mind Sid began to think back to what Diego had said, about him being a clutz and useless to the herd... How long has that been on the sabers mind? Sid knew that these thoughts weren't helping, but he couldn't help it because, well how do you stop thinking about things that have been told to you your entire life?

The more he thought about it, the more it started to eat at him. Sid slowed his pace as the thoughts were screaming in his head..overwhelming him..

what if I can't help? What am I doing..

Let's face it, he traveled with manny because he had found the mammoth to be a good source of protection... Throwing an entire rhino? What more could you ask for? And Diego... Well he was just as vicious. Both have shown their valor in battle, and courage in trying times, but who screamed and flinched? Of course, he had displayed such character in those times... Occasionally, but those instances were few.

A coward...the word buried itself in his mind, torturing him with its deriding sound. It echoed throughout, destroying the few positive thoughts he had about himself and mocking his very soul. Was this..this thing..supposed to save an entire family? Let alone a very capable and fully grown cat?

Throughout their entire time being a herd, it had always been Sid who screwed up.. Sid who fell behind, Sid who was picked on.. Seen as defenseless, tiny and insignificant despite himself being the reason the three were brought together. Manny was the smart, stoic tough guy and leader of the herd while Diego was the tracker, the hunter and protector of the herd... So what was Sid to them?

Useless..a name bestowed upon him by countless others whom he had the pleasure of knowing, the word "pleasure" being kind in every way. Never once had he let it get to him, so why now? It seemed that everything he had attempted, even for the sake of trying to help had done more harm than good, even going to the point of putting everyone in danger. How much worse could things get? And trust... There was almost no trust when it came to the sloth, and now he could finally get a clear picture as to why that was.

Perhaps it was best he left the herd...

He frowned. The words had begun to capitalize on his weakness. He almost forgot what he was doing... Would it have mattered if he did? Probably not, might only end up making things worse...

But... Then again, since this entire endeavor, since he had he privilege of being a babysitter.. Something sparked. He had actually punched Diego, the saber toothed tiger who he feared for the longest time.. Straight in the face. And he flinched, wincing from the pain.. He actually hurt, be it for a moment, a fully grown predator... Maybe there was strength to be found?

He shook his head, no more..

Up ahead, he saw a distant form, no.. Two forms, rapidly approaching in the raging waters.

Time for action..he thought as he began waddling towards them.

"AARGH!"

Diego took in a large breath, shocked at the quick slash to his face by the once dazed saber. He must've underestimated her, because the moment he tried to finish her she sprung to life.

"Oh.. I'm sorry! Did I hurt you? Here let me FIX THAT!" Another claw found its way into his shoulder, but not before he managed to catch it with his jaws. As he bit down on her, he pushed forward until he managed to slash her own face.

As Terra pushed away, Diego quickly caught sight of something particularly... Bad. Up ahead, another waterfall was quickly approaching them. Finding very little time to be spent before falling to an indefinite death, Diego searched for something to grab a hold of. He broke off the fight and swam towards some overgrowth along the edge of the land which hung just above the water. He grabbed at some tree limbs, but found them to be too weak for an animal his size.. That was when he saw..

"SID!" He shouted at the rapidly approaching sloth.

"DIEGO! HOLD ON BUDDY!" Sid kneeled down, extending his paw to the saber. As Diego approached him, Sid quickly grabbed a tree and wrapped his other arm around it for support. Diego clawed at the earth and pulled himself up a bit, meeting Sid's paw with his own. For a moment, the saber found himself breathing a sigh of relief, especially with death only inches away in the form of a raging wall of falling water..

Sid began to pull up his friend, straining as he found every ounce of his strength being leeched out of him by the several hundred pound cat. At least he wasn't alone in the struggle, as Diego found himself to be quite fatigued himself, and with his last bit of will pulled himself the rest of the way, only to collapse on the ground and close his eyes..

"Thanks buddy.." He said under heavy breaths.

The next few seconds ran by quickly, almost like a blur...

"DIEGO, BEHIND YOU!"

"SID! DON'T YOU DARE!"

*SPLASH*

"SIIIIIIIIID!"

Uh... Yea so here you go guys!

I uh.. Yea I've been dealing with.. Rather a lot lately.. Kind of not into explaining it right now.

Hope you enjoy this chapter! R&R! Next chapter will take a bit, but it'll get done.