A/N: This story seems to be just drawing out way too long. Now don't get the wrong idea, I'm not losing interest in this story. But I started this on January first and it's already April and I'm not done. (When I joined I promised myself to take no more than two months.) And here I am now. And the story comes to the beginning of the most exciting stuff in the next chapter. Oooooh...
Declaimer: "Molly?"
"Grace doesn't own Ice Age. But she does own pretty shoes. I know they're pretty cuz I saw them and they're- they're black and-"
"Thanks Molly, sweetheart. I think we get the picture."
"This is the rock you told Peaches about?" Louis asked dubiously.
The possum brother looked at him like he was stupid, "Well duh" Crash said, "What else could it be? It's cool 'cause it's kind of shiny. You just don't see rocks like that!"
Sapphire had to cover her nose, "Well, it actually looks and smells kind of like um, something else."
"What do you mean?" Eddie cluelessly asked.
Peaches looked like she might throw up, "Guys that's not a rock, it's-"
Just then, Granny walked in and whacked Crash and Eddie in the head with her cane, "Weird Eyes over there has a good reason to plug her nose you twits! Get that pile of nasty number two out of this cave before I make you do it!"
Rubbing their heads, the brothers first looked at each other, then at Sapphire holding her nose, then at their "rock". They face palmed themselves; Crash smacked Eddie, "You idiot! How didn't you know this was a giant pile of crap?!"
"How didn't you know? You were there with me!"
The trio of friends slowly backed away as the argument escalated to a full scale battle to unconsciousness in the middle of the cave. They ended up backing into Ellie, who asked what her brothers were fighting about.
"One thinks the other is really stupid because they didn't realize..." Louis didn't want to finish his sentence and trailed off.
"That the shiny rock they brought home, Mom, was really um..." Peaches followed Louis down the path of trailed of sentences.
"It's gross and smelly, let's put it at that." Sapphire successfully bailed out her friends.
Ellie looked in the direction of the cave and shook her head, "Not this again."
"This has happened before?" Sapphire asked, shocked.
"Yes." Her unanimous reply came.
Ellie sighed, "Thanks guys. Apparently they never learn these things. Should've known."
Elli walked off to the cave, yelling at her brothers and trying to break them up. Sapphire could now add this to the list of things she came to know about this family: the possum brothers were stupid. Sure, she always thought they were strange and idiotic, but know that this has happened she could conclude that they were simply stupid. Oh, well, at least their stupidity was entertaining.
The three sat on the ground around the fire pit where the group built a fire every night. It's become a thing for them: meet in the pine tree clearing, go out and mess around for most of the day like one would expect teenagers to do, then come over to Peaches' family around sunset and hang out there for an hour until curfew. And ever since Sapphire's first incident with John first time there, she has been way more careful about keeping track of time. Sapphire noticed Diego and Shira sitting a little further away from the group, smiling and talking about who knows what with each other. Even though it's been almost two months, she still hasn't figured out if they're together or not. She decided she would just ask.
"Hey Peaches," she asked, "Diego and Shira, are they together or something?"
"Nope, but they're real good friends. Which I guess makes sense, since they're the only two sabres and all."
"Okay, but you call her Aunt Shira a lot. And since you said Diego was your uncle and all, I thought that maybe, you know."
"Well I call her that because she's kind of part of the family now. It just feels right, you know?"
Sapphire shrugged, "I guess."
Sid came to the fire pit with two rock and several sticks for kindling in hand. Enthusiastically he said, "Alright then, let's get this fire going." and laid the tinder down, struck the rocks together, and lit the fire. Sapphire was silently thankful for the warmth of the fire. The temperature took a sudden drop and she was feeling a little chilly. She rubbed her arms with her hands to try to warm herself.
Louis looked over at her," You cold?"
Sapphire looked back at him, "A little."
"Here." He pulled her closer and wrapped an arm around her to keep her warm which, obviously, did not go unnoticed by the rest of the Herd.
"Ooh, look at them. Aren't they cute? Ah, young love." Sid sighed.
Crash and Eddie simply laughed, pointed and started singing, "Louis and Sapphire, sitting in a tree-"
"Come on guys shut up." Manny interrupted, "She was just cold, it's no big deal."
Sapphire closed her eyes, resisting the urge to rest her head on his shoulder and wrap her arms around Louis. She couldn't deny it now, it was obvious to her.
She was in love with Louis.
Finally, she thought, to think, it took me two months to realize this. She wondered why he put his arm around her in the first place. It was because she was cold and wanted to keep her warm, right? Or was this his way of making a move on her? If he was, she didn't mind. She liked the idea of her and Louis together. She sat contently, laughing with her friends and making jokes, with Louis sitting by her side.
Louis couldn't feel better with Sapphire in his arm. Was it just him, or did she seem to fit perfectly into his side? He thought so. He loved the way she smelled, her natural smell. She would occasionally put this berry gel in her hair that made the broken ends of the hair on top of her head stick down, but also made it smell like berries. Sure, he thought the berry gel smelled nice, but he much preferred her natural smell. He liked it because it was her smell, nothing artificial. He sat contently, laughing with his friends and making jokes, with Sapphire by his side.
Meanwhile, a menacing figure sat in a small cave on the other side of the island in front of a crudely made fire. His two surviving underlings sat across from him on the other side of the fire.
"We need a plan. We have a chance to get rid of our two worst enemies at once and I don't want to lose it. Give me some ideas."
His first underling, a rabbit, brandished his sword and said proudly, "I think we should wait 'til they all get together, then slaughter them one by one!"
That irritated him, "No you moron! They have good fighters and we're outnumbered. They'd kill us." He turned to his other underling, "And what about you? What do you got?"
The kangaroo sat back and smirked, "Well Boss", she started, "I think we need to take one or two of their weakest first. We'll keep them for a few days before we kill them though, so if anyone comes for them we can kill more of them in less time. They'll all be killed, it would just happen more slowly."
He smirked, which turned into a chuckle, which turned into an all out laugh, "I like the way you think. So that's what we'll do."
The rabbit looked creepily happy, not only did he get to kill, but taking on less people at once meant he got to kill slowly. He knew he was messed up in the head, but he didn't care. He actually liked it. He was so excited he wanted to find out who The Boss wanted him to take first so he could get this started, "So who are we takin' first? I wanna see blood, and soon."
"Just be patient. We need to think carefully about this." He thought for a moment, until an idea came to his sick mind. He knew who he wanted to go first, but he wasn't going to tell until the next morning; knowing his little underlings, they would probably go ahead with the plan in the middle of the night without his consent.
"Let me sleep on it. Get some rest you two." He smirked, "We've got a lot of work to do tomorrow."
So the three went to sleep, dreams of blood and the deaths of their enemies weighing on their minds.
A/N: It seems the end is near for our heroes. Who will be kidnapped? Imaginary cookie to anyone who can guess. (I'll bet you can't.) XD
I also must bring something else to your attention: my reviews are beginning to dwindle. I just sort of realized I'm only getting on average three reviews per chapter (which are very much appreciated btw.) I would like anyone who is not a member of this site and may also be new to this site that you do not have to be a member to write a review. Just put your name (or alias if you prefer) in the name box then type your review in the box below. Your questions, comments, praise, and critiques are appreciated and give me motivation to write more. So go ahead and drop me a review, I would love to hear what you think!
Reviewer shout outs!
IceAgingTitan- Hopefully you know what the dream means now. (I would be concerned if you didn't). O_O I can't answer your other questions though. I don't give spoilers. I gladly accept your smileys and give you some of my own. :) :)
MusicRocks807- Action begins next chapter! (P.S: I love your story The Girls in the Ice Age. When do you think you'll update that?)
Buckrocks- Well I'm not one to give spoilers but apparently you are! (It's fine though. I think everyone knew, I'm not good at hiding identities.)
My Ice Age Crush Status:
First place: Louis (Gotta love those eyes and that sensitive nature.)
Second place: Buck (Gotta love that accent and that adventurous , dangerous side.)
Yippee, new fan! Imaginary cookie for you!