Xion the Author: Time to make things exciting in the world below in Dinoland. :)
Diego: Mischievous as always.
Xion the Author: Tee hee!
Manny: …tee hee…?
Xion the Author: lol nothing. I just wondered how silly it is for someone to laugh like that. Tee hee. Tee hee. Tee hee. Tee hee! XD
ICE AGE JOURNEYS: RAISING A CUB
Chapter VII: Careful of What You Eat
The sunlight beamed across the icy tundra. Eli yawned out of slumber and stretched his front legs subconsciously before shaking the snow off of his fur. He opened his eyes to see the unfamiliar scenery before him.
"Morning sleepyhead!" shouted Peaches as she walked towards him while holding a heap of fruits with her trunk.
Eli looked around him to see that everyone else was already awake. "How much longer was I out than you guys?" he asked. He bent his head left and right, popping the weary bones in his neck.
"Just for a little while," said Crash, making his appearance with his twin brother on top of Peaches' head. A yellow pear dropped from the bunch she carried and rolled towards Eli's paw.
"Where did you get the fruit?" asked Eli, still drowsy from his previous slumber.
"Over there," pointed Peaches off at a distance behind her. The white wolf look towards the direction she pointed at and walked towards the ledge of the cliff. To his amazement, he saw an abundant orchard full of different trees he had never seen before in his entire life. From apple trees, orange trees, mango trees, peach trees, pear trees to trees he never knew existed.
In his complete awe, he went down the mountain trail to get a better look. Peaches and the others followed behind him, smiling at his reaction. Reminiscing of their own similar reaction they had a while ago. Eli got down and saw that there weren't only trees that bore fruit here but there were also bushes. From strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, gooseberries, boysenberries, and even more were growing everywhere.
"Why didn't you guys just wake me up?" asked Eli, still amazed by the scene. There was not one drop of snow from the ledge they went down from.
"We didn't want to bug you," Eddie answered.
"W-where's Flik?" asked Eli.
The gang heard a bunch of chirping sounds before looking up into the sky where it came from. "Over here," said Flik as he glided in a circular motion as he went down. "I took a short flight. I scanned around the place and saw no sign of bumpy rides for a while. So for now, just relax yourselves."
The rest of the group sighed in relief. After the entire running away from their family and collapsing bridge phenomena, it was great to let themselves go for a while. The group ate and traveled in pleasure at the same time.
The herd continued to follow the mysterious tracks unknown to them. Waking up early in the morning, they traveled early on. Each passing minute beheld danger to the herd, but with Buck guiding them they felt a hint of safety. The tracks lead them to a peculiar forest. Soon before arriving into the plantain thick area, Buck stopped walking and immediately the herd hit the brakes as well.
"I believe this place is called the Forest of Glowing Happiness," introduced Buck as he turned around waving his arm as a gesture of showing the place.
"Sounds fun!" exclaimed Sid.
"Maybe not as fun as it really sounds," Diego instigated.
"I'm no' really sure" said Buck. "All I know is wha' the cabbages told me"
"The… cabbages?" wondered Manny.
"So anyways, let's venture forth and find this creature. I want to just grab mah hands on it the moment I see it!" exclaimed Buck with valor in his tongue.
The herd continued to walk into the forest. It was filled with trees growing strange orange fruits. It appeared to be glowing, but within the natural orange glow of the underground valley, the herd couldn't tell. The thought of fruits and generally food stirred a disturbance within Sid's stomach, making it growl in hunger.
"Tell me that was something you ate, Diego", said Manny sarcastically as the herd stopped from Sid's growling stomach.
"Sorry", apologized Sid. "We just haven't eaten anything since morning."
"We can't afford to waste any time eating," said Ellie in a serious tone. "We have to get back Peaches as fast as possible-" Ellie was about to continue walking before Manny stopped her.
"Woah, woah easy Ellie" calmed Manny. "I'm just as worried as you are but Sid's right. We still need to eat. We can't help anyone if we can't help ourselves."
"For someone who was out of their way trying to protect a baby mammoth ten years ago, you're pretty calm," thought Ellie. A thought that was made into a glance shot at her husband.
"Are we sure we can really eat this stuff?" asked Diego as he looked at the numerous orange fruits on the trees.
"Lemme' check," said Buck. He went near one of the trees and strongly knocked his elbow unto it. The tree shook hard and a single fruit fell down into his palms in an instant. Buck examined the fruit on ways on how to eat it. He looked around its odd vase-like shape. He knocked on it and he found the skin really hard. He tried jiggling it up and down near his ear and heard squishing sounds inside. He grabbed his knife and opened the top part of the fruit and inspected the contents.
"It appears to be filled with some sort of liquid," said Buck. He smelled the contents of the fruit and found it a bit pleasant and unpleasant alike. He dipped his finger in the liquid and licked a drop. The taste was rather confusing. It was bitter yet spicy in a sense. Buck's curiosity got the best of him and he drank a bit of the liquid.
He lapped the contents' taste in his mouth. The rest of the herd watched him and waited if something bad might happen.
"Well…?" asked Diego, who was expecting a rather strange occurrence to happen as usual.
"It's bad… yet, good" answered Buck. He drank more of the liquid inside the fruit to the last drop. After indulging everything inside, he exhaled a delightful breath. "Actually, its really good!"The herd took it as a good gesture. Manny plucked a few fruits and had it opened from Sid. He gave one to Diego and the saber-tooth tiger slopped down unto the ground and opened it for himself. Sid clawed the fruit open and gave them to Manny and Ellie. Buck shook another tree as he found the taste delicious.
"Would you like one, Ellie?" asked Manny as he passed one of the fruits to her.
"No thank you," replied Ellie in a shrill tone. "I think I spotted a spring nearby. I'll be there if you need me" she said as she left the others to their business.
"Ok. Try not to go too far," Manny said. She simply raised a trunk while walking away.
Each one of the men had a fruit of their own. At an instant they all drank at the same time. They gulped it all down to the last drop. After doing so, they all looked at each other for a few seconds. Sid suddenly felt woozy and collapsed down unto the ground. They all looked at him lying on the floor unconscious. Buck raised his eyebrows and suddenly looked at Manny and Diego. Diego looked at Sid for a while and suddenly started chuckle.
"Heh- h-hey…what's Sid *hic* doing on the ground?" uttered Diego sloppily.
"Err… tigah?" Buck asked.
"Dunno. Mu-must be some *hic* sloth thing" muttered Manny groggily. "Ya-you know how *hic* sloths are"
"Mammoth?" wondered Buck. "You two feelin' okay?" He took the fruit Sid dropped on the floor and found a few drops left inside. He drank the remaining the contents and found it no different than what he was drinking a while ago. He looked at the others again and found them laughing in a sedated manner. Manny brought down another batch of fruit and gave to Diego for him to open. The saber clawed at it sheepishly but managed to do it and Manny took one after.
"Here! *hic!*" said Manny, giving another fruit to Buck. "Dri-drink some moar"
"Wha' in blazes is goin' on?" thought Buck. Diego and Manny continued to drink. Manny suddenly started to lose control of balance and fell on his bottom. The two animals cackled at what they thought was hilarious. Diego started making his way to Manny.
"Ya-you know *hic!* I-I never got to tell ya this but..." muttered Diego. "I-*hic*-I love you man."
"Nawwww," denied Manny, waving his trunk around.
"N-no it's true!" Diego said loudly before clearing his throat. "I've-I've admired you *hic* as a friend f-fer a really long time"
"Ahehe well then, let'sh get ush another drink," Manny said groaning in mid sentence as he tried reaching up to get another. "T-thish ish really*hic* great." Manny grabbed more fruits and Diego happily opened them.
"You know, the good thing about being single *hic* is being able to hit on any girl you see," chattered Diego. "But what if there aren't any girls in sight! Bah!"
"Yeah well, you know the *hic* worshe part about being married?" asked Manny.
"Wha-what?" said Diego.
"Bein' in a commitment every single day," the two laughed in unison as they share their stories about. Buck still watched them in confusion. He drank more of the strange liquid. He'd feel funny inside a little bit but after that nothing. The two still continued to blabber on and on. After more drinking, Buck remained in the same condition he was before, and so were Manny and Diego.
"He-hey!" Manny shouted at Buck before calming down to a softer tone. "C-C'mere you!" He took the weasel into an almost strangling hold with his trunk and brought him closer.
"O-oi! Yer chokin' me tah death!" Buck exasperated. He could feel his only eye almost pop out of its socket.
"You know, yer a really good pershon, you- *hic* you know that?" Manny cooed.
Buck struggled to get himself lose. And like a cork out of a bottle, he launched into the air and slammed into a tree, removing some bark in the process. The weasel caressed his head in pain as the other two laughed for random reason. But now that he was free, the first moment he regained full awareness Buck took off.
Ellie looked at her reflection in the water. The distinguishing parts on her face reminded her of a similar face; her daughter's. The thought of Peaches running off made her shed a tear. What horrors she might be encountering without them she thought. Unaware of her actual predicament, she grew restless in each passing second. It had been a while since the men had started goofing off with other things.
"Oy! Lady mammoth!" shouted a familiar voice.
Ellie turned around to see it was Buck running towards her. "What is it?" she asked.
"You have to come see this," said Buck. Ellie analyzed the moment for a while before noticing Manny, Diego and Sid wasn't with him. Immediately, they went off.
After a while of running back to the spot, Ellie found the three lying on ground, sleeping soundly.
"What happened?" Ellie asked.
"You know about those weird fruit thingies?" said Buck. "Well, the lads her e drank some and ol' sloth suddenly went cold. Then the tigah and mammoth started sharin' stories I didn't wanna hear. But they were still awake before I took off."
"And all this from drinking whatever was inside?" asked Ellie, looking at the scattered empty fruits. Buck gazed at them and there were a whole lot more before he had left. "You think it's poisoned?"
"I don't think so," answered Buck. "I've drank as much, if not, more than they did and I'm perfectly fine."
"Then why are they lying on the floor all drowsy?" Ellie said.
"I'm not sure, but I think we should wake them up," Buck said. He went and bent down towards the saber-tooth. "Thing is, no matter how much I move them, they're all fast asleep," he said as he opened one of Diego's eyelids and gently poked his eye.
Ellie thought for a while before coming up with an idea. "Wait here," she said as she ran off back to the spring. She went back to the spring and gathered some water up her trunk.
The mammoth swiftly rushed back and sprayed water all over them. Buck immediately went out of the way and watched the herd wake up in shock from the cold water. Their fur soon became drenched in a few moments.
"Woah!" shouted Diego before shivering in its icy coldness.
The bull trumpeted loudly before gaining total consciousness of what was happening. "Wh-what was that for?" Manny demanded. Water dripped from his thick brown fur.
"That's for sleeping in while we're still traveling!" Ellie scolded. "Does, 'child ran away' ring a bell to any of you?"
Diego sat down a bit and pressed his paws on his head hard. "Ugh… my head aches… wha-what happened?"
"You drank some of the weird fruit thingies until you all fell unconscious," Buck replied. "Why? You don't remembah?"
"Hurr… vaguely…" said Diego, still pressing his paws against his head.
"Uhhh… my head hurts too" Manny added, pressing his trunk on his own forehead.
"Urf… I think I'm gonna be sick," muttered Sid before spewing out whatever he had for dinner last night.
"Why don't I feel anythin' like tha'?" wondered Buck. Before leaving, the weasel called them Grog fruits. For some reason, the word popped just into his mind. The herd agreed never to touch the weird fruit again. They kept on traveling in pursuit of the trail.
"This place is just amazing!" said Eli, still amazed by the majestic orchard around them. He basked in the fruity scent that filled the air. It was absolutely captivating. But as much as they wanted to stay there, they were all still aware of their current mission.
"I still can't believe it either," said Crash, eating a plum he picked up ago while sitting on Peaches.
"I can't seem to find any peaches though," the mammoth mentioned. "I kinda miss the ones back home,"
"It's like a beautiful dream," Eddie hymned in agreement, eating a bunch of berries he gathered up as a collection. "A beautiful, beautiful dream!"
The group continued to walk further towards their unknown destination. Every once in a while they'd see some blue birds flying across from tree to tree. There were a lot of woodland creatures that were living in the forest, which was after no surprise due to the bountiful amount of food and shelter it provided. They even saw an odd couple of saber-toothed squirrel/rat hybrids chasing each other over a nut. Though as humorous as it looked, the grand view of the glistening leaves and fruits took away most of their attention.
"You know," said Crash who took a bite out of a berry and swallowing before continuing, "We can stay here instead. I mean, everything here is perfect!"
"I dunno…" Peaches muttered. "Usually places that look too perfect have dark secrets"
"Oh come on," said Crash, mocking the idea, "I don't think vicious wolverines would suddenly sneak up on us if we stay here at night"
"Well you never know," Flik added
Crash almost choked on a bit of fruit. "W-wait. What does that mean?" he asked.
"You can't really think something as perfect as this place could exist," Flik said, raising an eyebrow. "Nothing's ever perfect," he then mumbled to himself with a tone of disdain.
Peaches and the twins suddenly fell silent and glanced at each other. Eli, who was watching them from behind, simply chuckled. "I'm sure all Flik means is that we've got to be focused on our goal. We shouldn't be sidetracked this easily," he said, "Right, Flik?
Flik didn't respond. The osprey seemed to be acting a bit cautious. He looked around from left to right while perched on Peaches' half-developed tusks. Peaches couldn't help but notice. "Is something wrong, Mr. Flik?" she asked.
"I'm fine," he answered, still inspecting the terrain. "I also prefer you just call me Flik."
"Okay," Peaches shrugged. The she remained doubtful everything was fine, she let things be for the moment.
Flik's suspicions and watch remained vigilant. And so did their undetected spectator. It watched them from a hidden vantage point from a high cliff. It stared at them with its red piercing eyes, most focused on the osprey.
He had large dull black wings. Long feathers peeked through the end of each wing. It raised a smile filled with grimace. "Tsk tsk tsk, looks like ol' Flik 'as some friends," it said, and then specifically eyeing on the fat juicy mammoth Flik was perched on. "Maybe I should get along, for dinner"
Xion the Author: What made things difficult this time was imagining what Manny and the rest will do in Dinoland. As in, journeying through unbelievable places. Since I didn't want to make myself repetitive, I tried not to use the places I made up in my previous story. And boy, was it difficult imagining something fun yet original. But, thankfully, I was able to once again. The story would also be boring if the role of Flik would simply be a guide, so here comes an antagonist!
Sid: Tee hee! Tee hee!
Diego: You know, I'd say it suits him.
Manny: Yeah, me too.
Xion the Author: While editing this into an extended version, I actually added a few more conversations. Some chapters only needed a fix on some lack of detail. This didn't need much fixing, and I had to add some conversations that didn't really necessarily affect the plot.