Chapter 13

I do not own 'Ice Age'. I only own the characters you don't recognize from the movies. So sorry for the late update but my life has gotten so much busier especially since I'm graduating and a lot of work needs to get done. Plus, trying to break down writers block with a large sledgehammer isn't exactly working. Anyways on with the story.

Taravati woke the next morning, her arm still slightly sore from yesterday as she tiredly sat up. She looked around for a short moment as she now began to remember where she was and why. Taravati was slightly confused as to why nobody was around except for Sid who lay against a tree trunk quietly snoring. She soon spotted Ellie and Peaches off to the side grazing on grass and leaves on the trees and Taravati began to stand as Roshan's fur cloak he had loaned her slipped off and she made her way over to them.

It was Ellie who spotted the girl first, "Morning sleepy head." Ellie greeted.

"Um, good morning" Taravati replied, she was still slightly nervous about talking animals, "Where is everybody?"

"Dad went to go get a drink," Peaches answered, "Don't ask us where Crash and Eddie are, we have no idea where those two got to. And Roshan and Diego went to hunt for awhile… funny, they should be back by now."

Taravati nodded in understanding and not only a few seconds later, Roshan and Diego suddenly burst out of the forest as Diego growled and Roshan attempted to block him with his spear. It didn't work as well as the boy thought as Diego dodged the block and leaped onto Roshan, knocking him onto the ground on his back and flinging his spear out of his hand.

"Ahhh! Okay, Okay! Mercy!" Roshan cried and Diego chuckled as he stood over him.

"That's two more things you need to know" Diego replied, "You really need to improve on your blocks… like a lot. And, when you're down, your opponent will never give you mercy."

Roshan sighed as Diego stepped off of him, chuckling, and Roshan sat up and it was then that he realized that Ellie, Peaches, and Taravati were standing there. Roshan slightly laughed nervously as Ellie gave him a look.

"Now what in the world was that?" Ellie questioned as Roshan stood and dusted himself off. The commotion Roshan and Diego had made finally roused Sid from his sleep as he woke and attempted to stand.

"You could be a little compassionate for the tired and exhausted, you know." Sid complained and the others just rolled their eyes in response.

"Diego was giving me some defense lessons after our hunt." Roshan replied.

Diego came up and joined them; "I figured the kid might need it considering that enemy tribe is after him and such" Diego said and he turned to Roshan, "By the way, your bag has the meat in it. Where is it?"

"Uh… I left it… back there?"

"Guess who's going to get it."

"I'll, uh, be right back."

The group laughed as Roshan rushed back into the forest to retrieve his bag and Diego moved to settle himself down near the small fire for a nap. Taravati was slightly cautious as she made her way over to Diego, still nervous about being around a saber and she sat down near Diego.

"Um… can I ask you something?" Taravati asked and Diego raised his head.

"Sure" Diego answered, "What's up, kid?"

"You said something about an enemy tribe after Roshan. Do you know anything about them by any chance?"

Diego thought for a short moment "I guess the only thing I know is that they tend to light their arrows on fire. That's what burned down almost the entire forest we used to live in before."

"I'm sorry."

"Nah, don't be. We move around a lot anyways. That enemy tribe seemed to be really focused on getting rid of Roshan though. Why do you ask?"

"Uh, just curious is all."

Taravati decided not to say anything more for the time being as Roshan finally emerged from the forest with his bag slung over his shoulder and he joined them near the fire. He placed his bag down on the ground and sat down next to Taravati as he pulled out a few small chunks of meat to cook on the fire. Taravati watched Roshan out of the corner of her eye and when Roshan felt like he was being watched, he turned to Taravati and she quickly looked away before he could notice it was her watching him and he turned back to cooking the meat. Taravati sat staring at the small fire as if in her own little world when Roshan turned to her with a piece of cooked meat sitting on a large leaf in his hand.

"Taravati. Taravati?" Roshan said as he tried to get her attention, "Hello, you there?"

Taravati finally snapped out of it as her head jerked up slightly and she turned to Roshan, "Huh? What is it?" she asked.

"Here, eat this. You're going to need some food to keep your energy up."

Roshan held the chunk of meat out to her and Taravati hesitated for a short moment before taking the meat and thanking him as she began to nibble at it. Satisfied that she was eating, Roshan then grabbed a chunk of cooked meat for himself and began to eat as Manny finally returned and motioned for everyone to gather around the fire. Everyone else who wasn't already sitting by the fire came over and even crash and Eddie showed up as they each sat on Ellie's tusks.

"We can't stay here very long," Manny began, "If we want to beat the rest of the snowfall we may have to hurry otherwise we'll be heading into another snowstorm."

"Leaving?" Taravati nervously questioned, "Where are you even going?"

"Near glacier pass to hopefully meet up with the rest of Roshan's tribe. You're more than welcome to come along. We're not too far away; if we hurry we can get there soon after midday."

"I-I guess I could, I have nowhere else to go anyways."

"Then it's settled, we'll leave shortly."

Everyone nodded in understanding as Roshan began packing up his things in his bag while Taravati moved to put the fire out. Roshan glanced at her for a short moment and realized that she seemed a little more nervous today than she did yesterday. He noted this by the way she hastily tried to put the fire out by dumping handfuls of dirt on it almost as if she was running away from something and didn't want to be found.

"Taravati?" Roshan said, "Are you alright?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah, I'm fine." Taravati answered.

"Then why are you in such a hurry to cover the fire with dirt?"

"Uh… I just don't want the forest to catch fire after we leave. Better to be safe than sorry."

"… Right."

It was then that Manny called out to them, "Hey you two, c'mon it's time to go."

"We're coming!" Roshan called back as he stood and slung his bag over his shoulder. Taravati followed suite as she stood and the two headed towards Manny and the others and they were all soon on their way once again.

As the group continued on their way towards glacier pass, Roshan happened to notice that Taravati didn't seem right as she hung back near the back of the group. He didn't know exactly what it was but it was there. The way she seemed to scan their surroundings, slightly jumping at almost ever odd sound though she tried to hide it. Roshan slowed his walking down to hang back just enough to walk beside Taravati.

"So how did you get stranded over that cliff?" Roshan asked, hoping to make some sort of conversation with Taravati.

"I'm sure you don't want to know" Taravati answered, "its not important, I was just a little clumsy."

"Of course I want to know, we did save you after all so I want to know what happened."

"Like I said, it's not important."

"Yes it is."

"No it's not, now will you please just leave it alone?"

"Taravati!"

Roshan grabbed Taravati's arm making the both of them stop and Roshan kept a hold of her arm. He hadn't hurt her as he hadn't been holding her arm very hard but at the sudden stop of the two humans and Roshan's slightly raised voice, the herd had stopped and turned to see what the commotion was all about.

"Taravati, we're not moving another step until you tell me what happened." Roshan demanded.

Taravati stared at Roshan unsure of what to do. She contemplated pulling her arm out of his grasp and running but he had a firm grip and was determined not to let go. Plus if she did run, Diego would just go after her and Taravati didn't want that at all. She could see that Roshan was determined to get some sort of answer out of her and he was set on what he said. No one would move until she gave Roshan an answer. Finally, after a few moments, Taravati decided to speak.

"I-I tripped and fell over the edge of the cliff," Taravati said, "I grabbed onto the first thing I was able and held on. That's what happened… nothing more."

Taravati fell silent as she waited for Roshan's response. He didn't respond right away and at first he didn't seem satisfied with her answer but then nodded as he released her arm, knowing that h wasn't going to get a better answer than that. Not right away at least. Taravati glanced around a little nervously and she glanced at Roshan once more before walking towards the front of the herd, placing a hand over the spot where Roshan had grabbed her arm. Roshan watched Taravati walk away for a moment before sighing as Diego moved to stand beside him.

"She'll come around" Diego assured, "C'mon let's go, we're falling behind."

Roshan nodded as the two began walking to catch up to the others, "I just wish she'd tell me the truth." Roshan admitted.

"You can't pry it out of her in an instant, kid. She's a woman; you got to let it come out gradually."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Aren't I always?"

Roshan and Diego laughed as they finally caught up to the rest of the group. Roshan glanced at Taravati ahead of him and was sure that she wasn't about to talk to him anytime soon and he understood her reasons why. Roshan decided to leave the situation for now as he didn't exactly want to deal with it any longer than he had to. The group walked for some time but the sound of a trumpeting horn much like the ones used in Roshan's tribe made the group frozen in their tracks.