Introducing another OC this chapter! And you know what's weird? I didn't come up with him until this afternoon. XD
Disclaimer: I don't own Ice Age.
"Are we getting any closer?" Crash whined.
Diego gave him the evil eye, so he quickly shut up, because the tiger happened to be launched into a terrible mood. Ellie and Shira had forced him into sniffing out Sid's (and Manny's) scent in the end, saying that he didn't smell that bad. And guess what? They were right; it wasn't that bad... It was worse.
Hoping to lighten up Diego's mood by distracting him, Peaches asked him, "So how was life back when you weren't, um...down here?"
"Normal saber life. Pack of ten. Half were slaughtered by humans though, so there were only five of us left," Diego replied, expression unchanging, not even looking back.
Louis, who was eavesdropping, had his curiosity genuinely piqued. "What were your pack mates like?"
"There was this scrawny guy called Zeke, and he was pretty jittery, and was always the first to maul something. Then there's Lenny. Nothing special about him, except for the fact that he was fat and had like seven chins. And there's one named Oscar, who was a complete asshole to me."
"Not something very nice to say about your own former pack mate," Shira remarked.
"Just because the two of us were in the same pack does not mean that we actually liked each other. 'Cause we were far from being friendly. We only put up with each other because we had to. I probably wouldn't have hated him so much if he wasn't such a...an asshole."
"Can't you call him anything else but that? Something more appropriate?" Ellie asked disapprovingly.
"Nope. To be honest, I can think about 20 words to describe him, and 'asshole' is the most 'appropriate' one out of all of them," Diego said flatly.
"Never mind then," Ellie mumbled.
"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. You said there were five members of your pack. You only talked about three. Including you makes it four," Shira pointed out. "So who's the fifth?"
Diego stopped walking. "Our leader, Soto," he bit out in a venomous tone.
Shira didn't show it, but she was taken aback by his forced answer. In the short time she had known him, he always seemed so indifferent to everything, not to mention a little suspicious. He never seemed to have the ability to actually be seriously angry, other than be a little (more like very) put out by the possums' antics. But hey, the possums can manage to annoy the most patient being on Earth.
She had noticed three long slashes, running down from Diego's shoulder all the way to his lower arm, when they had stopped for the night, which for some reason, had unusually stood out. Now that he was talking about his pack leader, he had unconsciously touched those scars with his other paw. As always, Shira was the only one who saw this, or at least, the only one who actually regarded it.
"He had this grudge against humans, even before they had wiped out those five sabers. Getting back at them was the only thing he cared about," Diego was saying.
It was clear to everyone else that there was more to what he was really letting on. "And? What happened?" Eddie asked impatiently.
"That's all you're getting from me right now. Aren't we supposed to be looking for Manny and Sid?" Diego snapped.
"You were the one who quit walking," Shira countered, rolling her eyes.
"Whatever, I'm getting sick of trying to sniff Sid out. My nose feels like it's about to fall off," Diego vented grouchily. "We aren't the only ones down here, so let's just ask around. I don't know about you, but I don't think it's that hard for zombies to spot a mammoth and sloth who are both alive and well."
Peaches seemed to regret asking about Diego's former life, as it seemed to knock him down even more on the mood scale. So naturally, trying not to mess up again, she was the first to consent. "O-Okay, then, let's ask."
Diego didn't respond, mainly because a zombie dire wolf who just so happened to be passing by had caught his attention. He called out, "Hey, Wolfie!"
The wolf pretended not to hear him and continued walking.
"Wolfie!" Diego shouted, slightly louder this time.
Same reaction, or lack thereof, occurred.
Diego grumbled under his breath, "For the love of – TANNER! I KNOW YOU'RE NOT DEAF, SO SIT YOUR BUTT DOWN AND TURN AROUND ALREADY!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, patience obviously worn thin.
The wolf finally turned around, smirking. "Yeah, Pussycat?"
Diego growled. "Shut it. Anyway, I need your help."
Tanner rolled his eyes. "I don't have all day. Just spit out what you need."
"I'm gonna go ahead and take that as a 'Sure, I'll do it.' Can you sniff around for me and tell me if you sense anything alive?"
"Sure I can, but why?"
"You're not deaf, and you're certainly not blind. Do you not notice a bunch of living freaks behind me?" Diego muttered.
"Sorry to damage that sad ego of yours, but you're not exactly normal either," Shira said, annoyed.
Tanner eyed her for a second, before turning to Diego. "New girlfriend?"
"I seriously don't get why everyone keeps saying that," was Diego's reply.
Shira was secretly glad that he didn't enjoy that romantic aspect either. Not that she'll say that out loud.
"Sure, whatever you say. So what, you just want me to smell something?" Tanner raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, pretty much," Diego shrugged.
"Uh... Sure, I can do that." The wolf began sniffing the air.
"Can you detect anything? Something that smells like a rotten apple that someone barfed on and then got pelted with possum dung?"
Eddie reached behind his back and sniffed his rear, trying to see if it really was as stinky as Diego's implication.
Tanner suddenly started coughing. "Oh yeah, I smell it. I smell it bad. It's that way," he pointed forward. "You were heading in the right direction already. You happy now?"
"Not exactly..." Diego said casually, examining a claw. "We'll need you to keep track of them, in case they change direction. That mammoth and sloth we're trying to find know how to move around, you know."
"Oh great," Tanner grumbled. "Remind me to never do any favors for you ever again."
Diego rolled his eyes. "No more favors shall be necessary. Now help us."
"I seriously don't get why you can't get Howie to do it. I mean, he may not know how to track, but he knows his way around here."
"Oh yeah, like I'm going to put him through that much trouble," Diego scoffed. "Besides, I don't know where he is right now. I only got you to help just because you were passing by."
"I so shouldn't have decided to take the shortcut to the other side of the plains," Tanner muttered under his breath.
"Hey, back up here, ladies! Who's Howie?!" Granny butted in.
"This mammoth kid we know. Don't worry about him," Diego explained, before realizing something. "Wait a sec..."
"She just called us girls," Tanner said with a stony face. "I don't even know her, but I have a hunch that she genuinely doesn't know that we're guys."
"And I have a hunch that your hunch is right," Diego said begrudgingly. "Changing the subject now; you ought to walk ahead. Trackers always scout out front and center."
"Yeah, of course you would know that, considering that you're making me do this just because you don't want to," Tanner shot at him, but walked up ahead anyway.
"You always seemed like the loner type to me. I never expected you to have friends down here," Shira remarked once the wolf was out of hearing range.
"He isn't my friend; just an acquaintance. Heck, not even an acquaintance; more like two carnivores who only know each other because most of the zombies down here are unsurprisingly herbivores who fell prey to the hunters. Now come on, I don't want to give him the chance to ditch us while we're talking. Let's go."
Yup, I know I said this already, but new OC. And Diego uses some minor language here... Probably should've told you that at the beginning of the chapter, haha.
Review because I enjoy them! :)
