Chapter 7

I do not own 'Ice Age'. I only own the characters you don't recognize from the movies.

As the day progressed, everyone seemed to be in a relaxed mood as the day went by as any casual day in the wilderness. Roshan was seated near the creek with his back against a tree as he was sharpening a few tips of his arrows and it was then that he looked up and spotted Peaches making her way over to him.

"Hey" Peaches said.

"Hey" Roshan replied.

"I was just about to go for a walk around the woods, want to come?"

"Sure, I've been sitting around for too long anyways."

Peaches nodded as Roshan stood and he strapped his bow and arrows to his back before following Peaches towards the woods for a casual walk. It was silent between the two for awhile as they walked through the woods and a few birds chirped in the distance as they walked.

"So, how do you like it out here so far?" Peaches asked and Roshan turned to her.

"I guess it's not that bad" Roshan answered, "I mean, I didn't mean to say it was ever bad in the first place I just meant-"

Peaches laughed a little, "Yeah, I get it." she said.

"Although I still wonder about the others I was supposed to meet up with and where they are right now."

"Where were you supposed to meet them?"

"In the mountains about half way to glacier pass from our village. I'm probably hundreds of miles away from there now."

Roshan jumped up onto a large fallen log and he spread his arms out to the side to balance himself as he attempted to walk across it.

"What if you could still meet up with them?" Peaches suggested.

"I don't know" Roshan replied, "They probably won't be there anymore, they probably think I didn't make it out."

"How do you know that if you don't go and see for yourself?"

"What?" Roshan almost turned around so fast he almost fell off of the log if Peaches hadn't caught him and pushed him back up with her trunk and he regained his footing and he stood on the log facing Peaches. "Thanks."

"No problem." Peaches replied, "Well? What do you say? You up for it?"

"I'm not to sure, I mean I can't just up and go wandering the wilderness by myself hoping to make it near to glacier pass."

"Of course not! You think I'm just going to suggest it and not go with you?"

"What? But you've got your family and I can tell you right now your parents aren't going to let you go… let alone let me even go!"

"What if we talk to them and convince them to let us go? C'mon, what's going to happen to us if we're just heading to glacier pass?"

"I can think of a few things."

"C'mon, let's go!"

Peaches turned and began heading back towards the rest of the herd and Roshan groaned as he jumped down from the log and he jogged to catch up to Peaches. They soon made it back to the others and saw that Manny and Ellie were near the entrance of the cave talking with Diego while the possums continued to prank Sid as much as possible. Peaches instantly headed over to her parents with Roshan following reluctantly behind.

"Mom, Dad, Roshan and I would like to ask you something." Peaches said and Manny looked at Roshan and his daughter.

Roshan spoke up, "Actually, it's just Peaches who wants to ask you something." he said.

"Well what is it?" Manny asked.

"Roshan and I want to go up near glacier pass to see if his other tribe members are there." Peaches said.

"No, absolutely not!"

"But, dad-"

"It's too dangerous! Plus I thought we were done with all of this adventure stuff."

"But Roshan can't go by himself-"

"Who says he's going anywhere by himself? The only way he's going to go anywhere is with all of us."

Ellie decided to cut in, "Manny, settle down. Don't you think Roshan should have a say in what he wants to do?"

Roshan, caught completely off guard, stared at Ellie and Manny, "Uh… do I?" he asked.

"Of course you do. It's your choice whether you want to stay or not."

"Well, I… I mean… it would be nice to stay but… I guess I would just like to know if the other members of my tribe are alright. All I know is that we were all supposed to meet half way to glacier pass from our village, I don't know how many of them made it out."

"C'mon Manny, we haven't had an adventure like this since Peaches was born. We could use a little excitement."

"Who said 'excitement'?" Sid asked as he joined the rest of the group with Crash and Eddie following behind him.

"I did" Ellie replied, "Peaches and Roshan want to travel near glacier pass to find the rest of Roshan's tribe."

"Sounds like fun!" Crash said.

"I'm in!" Eddie added and the two possums scurried up to sit on Ellie's tusks.

"Uh, Ellie" Diego said, "I don't think we should go through with this."

"Why not, Diego?" Ellie asked.

Diego briefly glanced at Manny and Manny glanced back, both of them knowing what kind of dangers lurked around glacier pass.

Ellie sighed, "Well if you two can't come up with a good explanation not to go, then I say we're going."

"Ellie, we can't just-" Manny tried to argue but Ellie wouldn't hear it.

"We're going and that's that, we'll leave tomorrow. How does that sound?"

"Thanks so much, mom!" Peaches squealed as she wrapped her trunk around her mother's neck in a hug and Ellie returned the gesture. The two released each other as Ellie turned to Roshan.

"But it is still up to Roshan if we should go or not" Ellie said, "Do you still want to go?"

"Well… yes, I guess" Roshan replied, "But I just don't like the idea of you guys endangering yourselves just for me."

"If you go, then we all go" Manny said, "Because that's what you do in a herd, you stick together no matter what."

Roshan lightly smiled and with the arrangements finally settled, everyone began heading into the cave as the day began to turn into night. Manny and Ellie seated themselves in their usual spot as Crash and Eddie climbed up to their tree branch and hung upside down from their tails. Sid plopped down on his tree stump very ungracefully as he began to shift around attempting to get comfortable while Peaches seated herself in her usual spot with Roshan setting up his fur cloak nearby. Diego stood near the entrance of the cave for a few moments as he looked out side and he glanced up at the sky for a brief moment before turning back to the rest of the herd.

"It's going to be a cold one tonight, gang" Diego said and almost right after he said that, a small cold breeze blew into the cave and Roshan slightly shivered as he grabbed his cloak and wrapped it around himself to stay warm. Crash and Eddie's bodies practically tilted to the side at the force of the breeze and they both shivered as they scurried down from their tree branch and onto Ellie's thick, warm fur and they decided to remain there.

"Hey, Roshan" Peaches said and Roshan turned to her, "how warm is that cloak of yours?"

"Um, I don't know" Roshan replied, "It should be enough for tonight though. It can't be that cold out." Once again, another small cold breeze blew into the cave making Roshan slightly shiver again although his cloak was around him. That was supposed to be keeping him warm. "Okay, never mind."

Peaches stifled a laugh, "C'mere." she said.

Roshan quietly sighed as he stood and made his way closer to Peaches and sat down by her head. Peaches reached out as she wrapped her trunk around him, pulling him closer so that Roshan was able to lean against her and still be wrapped up in her trunk.

"Thanks" Roshan said, "I guess I need a better cloak."

"It helps when you have thick fur like mine." Peaches joked and Roshan smiled as he nodded.

"Goodnight, Peaches."

"Goodnight, Roshan."