Xion the Author: Heya! I'm back! Sorry I took a while. This is one of the chapters I really have no insight upon and did my best to make it detailed. I'll try to think ahead of the story before writing the following chapter next time so I won't miss something again. Usually when I do, I think of twists that can change the entire idea in the next chapters. For example, the Don Ricardo wasn't really a godfather in the first place, and the mafia birds weren't really put into thought. But when the idea came up I just HAD to put it in. Originally, Ricardo should've had a different name and was just sort of an arch-nemesis for Flik, without the entire mafia idea. ^^ : Another part was that Sid wasn't originally going to be taken by his one-day adopted dino kids. But… since he was in Dinoland and all, I REALLY wanted to. To be specific, the entire journey wasn't in the original idea. I've already told you guys about what Eli was originally supposed to be like, but since I thought "Hey! Let's put in a perilous journey that people will really enjoy reading about!" I changed his personality so he would fit the story a bit better.

Sid: And you guys probably miss me by now, so I'm going to make my appearance in the beginning of this chapter!

ICE AGE JOURNEYS: RAISING A CUB

Chapter XI: Looking for Directions

Sid finally woke up from dizzied slumber to find himself still dangling around. He felt a slight upchuck from the to-and-fro motion as his captors carried him around. Suddenly, he hit his head again on a rock the ground but thankfully he kept his consciousness. He uttered a small yelp in pain. His captors noticed it and finally laid him down on the ground.

Sid looked up to see not one, but three familiar faces.

"Mama!" the three dinos called him as they rushed towards him to try and hug him but all they did was maul him around.

"Doh! Oof!" groaned Sid. Though Sid felt pain in every bump and tackle they unintentionally made, he felt warm-hearted to see his one-day adopted kids again. "It's so great to – oof! – see you guys again!" He said as he felt the tickle of their tongues as it ran across his body. Soon enough, Sid was covered in gooey disgusting saliva.

And just as soon as he was put down on the ground, they all heard a loud roar echoing in the air. Egbert picked up Sid and immediately the three began to travel again. Egbert threw Sid up in the air and catched him on his back.

"Woooooaah!" shouted Sid as he landed on the now large one-day adopted dinosaur. "Wh-where are we going?" he asked abruptly. The dinosaurs made no reply, after all, they didn't speak life regular animals.

"Let us out!" shouted Peaches as she rammed the cave door. The door barely budged no matter how many times Peaches would persist to ram it. Crash was reminded of his sister while he watched his nephew.

"It's no use" said Flik, stopping Peaches from ramming it again. "You'll only end up hurting yourself, and I doubt the Don would just let us walk out. Unharmed, that is"

"Okay, enough witty statements osprey. It's time you told us what's going on!" demanded Crash. Peaches was intrigued by the statement and looked at Flik. The osprey sighed heavily, knowing that it was about time to explain everything.

"I used to work for – I mean – with Don Ricardo" answered Flik. "It was a long time ago. I was known as his consigliere, his right hand man. We started this family together for a good purpose, a purpose long forgotten"

"The wolves used to be ravenous and out-of-control. They were bloodthirsty for prey, and their hunger never seemed to diminish. As a drastic measure to things, we created this family and called it Bloodwings, to take back the blood spilled by the wolves. And the entire idea of this family came from me"

"Ricardo was my best friend, and thought that he would've been a more suitable leader than I would be. He was better at persuading and encouraging other birds. I was the brains behind every decision. We would try and stop wolves from hunting others when we could. We would make scout patrols and would shout out in the air if we spotted one. And each passing day was a success for the family. Death counts started to go down, and we gained the animals' trust. It finally came to a point where the wolves would hunt only when needed. And as soon as that started, the necessity in our role was coming to a close as well. I decided to retire from the job, knowing that we were no longer needed. However, Ricardo didn't had the same thought in mind."

"He grew mad with power. He controlled the will of all the birds and all the woodland creatures, and no one could ever lose to a speech to him. And whoever defied him with end up in a rather unpleasant situation, one way or another"

Finally, Flik grew to a heavy sigh. "I persuaded him the best I could about what he was doing. But, like I said, I could never beat him in a debate. He was insistent, completely blinded by his power that he seemed to have lost consciousness of what our true goal was. So I flew away, never turning back."

"And that's what's going on." Flik finished.

"Why won't he just leave you alone?" asked Peaches, finally understanding the dire situation Flik was in.

"Many of the animals follow him, though only due to fear" Flik explained. "But not all"

"And what does that have to do with you?" Crash asked.

Flik took a moment to think about whether to tell them, but went ahead and told them. "There is a legend. Before, there was only one kind of bird. But as diversity grew through evolution, many had changed dramatically. Some had grown larger, others smaller. Some had stopped flying and stayed on land, and some developed into a form more suitable for swimming. As the diversity grew, it was known that all the birds were distancing themselves from every other bird. But to ensure that they would not feel as alienated from all the others, all the birds in the world gathered into one spot, and swore to keep their loyalty as birds unto a single item. It is known as the Rainbow Feather. And to whoever has it, all the birds must obey him with complete loyalty. And with all the birds in his command, conquering all the other creatures would be a snap"

"And you must know where the feather is located!" Peaches blurted out in excitement. The little girl inside her popped out from the story.

"Yes" Flik replied. "But it is an artifact too strong, that my ancestors kept it hidden somewhere that no ordinary bird could reach"

"Well, that sums up all of my questions" said Crash, cracking the bones in his neck.

"But what can we do now?" asked Peaches.

"We can only sit here and wait…" answered Flik. "…and hope for a miracle"

"How long have we been walking?" complained Eddie.

"What are you talking about? I'm the only one who's walking!" retorted Eli. Eddie was riding Eli on top of him, lying lazily on his head.

"Eli, you should learn to respect your uncles more" Eddie replied. Eli rolled his eyes and picked him off of his head and placed him on the ground.

"Come on, I'm pretty sure we're getting close" said Eli.

"We– You've been walking for hours already" said Eddie. "I already told you, we shouldn't trust crazy old rabbits."

"Come on, have a little faith on the guy. I'm sure he told us the right direction" said Eli.

"And how sure are you?" Eddie asked.

"It doesn't matter. Besides, we don't have any other leads towards them" answered Eli.

"Why won't we turn back and meet up with Crash and the others?" Eddie asked.

"That's the beauty of my plan!" Eli answered. "When we meet the wolves, we can ask them to help us find them!"

"And how sure are you they'll help?" Eddie asked. "Or not just rip us into shreds the moment they see us?"

Eli paused for a few moments. "That doesn't matter. Just trust me"

Eddie rubbed his paw down his face. "I still don't know why I - the elder - won't just make the decisions for you"

"Because you're a possum, and I'm a big wolf" Eli teased. The two continued to walk on. Eli looked around him, seeing the tall trees blocking almost entirely the sunlight. Unknown to them, there was someone spying them.

Suddenly, something sprang up and pounced on Eli. Eddie flinched and fell his butt on the ground. Eli opened his eyes to see another pair of eyes; blue like his, but his had a darker distinct color, and the wolf, roughly of the same age, staring angrily at him had a brighter color like that of the sky. Eli somehow felt himself lost in the wolf's eyes.

"Get off my friend!" yelled Eddie as he jumped on the wolf and slammed his paws on her back.

"You're… friend?" asked the wolf as her glare slowly went away.

"Uncle, to be precise" answered Eli. And as Eddie continued pounding at her, she got off of him. Eddie rolled towards the ground as she arched her back. Now that she was off of him, he got up and got a better look at her. She had a bright brownish fur, and she had a certain grace in the way she moved.

"You shouldn't be here outlander, you're not welcome" she said, sitting down on the soft foliage.

"Why not?" asked Eddie. "He's a wolf, isn't he supposed to be welcomed?"

"Not all wolves are as welcoming as they appear," she sneered.

"Well I'm not one of those wolves," Eli replied distinctively.

She inspected him, eyeing down every fur and corner of his body and she let her guard down a bit. "I can see that. Now, what brings you here?" she asked.

"I came from a faraway place to look for other like me" Eli answered. "Other wolves"

"You don't come from another pack?" she asked intriguingly.

Eli shook his head. "My pack died a long time ago in a fire when I was a pup"

"Oh dear, don't tell me this opossum raised you up himself!" she said, shocked from disbelief.

"Hey!" shouted Eddie. "I am mildly offended.

"Not really" answered Eli, ignoring his uncle. "I was adopted by a herd. And after being the only wolf there, and the only other predator in the herd, I wanted to look for other wolves"

"Goodness, what kind of herd would that have been?" she uttered.

"Weirder than you think" Eddie answered.

She giggled, "Well, I'm going to have to disappoint you. Wherever you may have come from, our pack doesn't just open their arms to any wolf. I'm sure my father wouldn't want that."

"Buh- I-I'm sure I can talk to your dad" Eli persuaded.

"Well, that will have to be a problem for you 'cause he's the pack alpha. And that would be a problem for me cause I'm his daughter," she said. "So, you should probably start going back to where you came from."

"We can't!" Eddie persisted, "We've gotten so far and we're not giving up this easy!"

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing I could d-"

"Well then what if I get your trust?" asked Eli.

"Huh?" asked both Eddie and the female wolf.

"You are the pack alpha's daughter, right? I'm sure he would understand if you'd tell him!" Eli said.

The female wolf took one last inspection at him, and gave deep thought about what he said. "Actually, that's not such a bad idea. Besides, I'm starting to want to get to know you better." agreed the wolf as she approached him "I will test you in every way I know to see if you are as trustworthy as you claim.

"That's great!" he said excitingly. The wolf could never be more thrilled. "My name's Eli. What's yours?"

"My name's Leah. Nice to meet you"

"These footprints look peculiar" said Buck as he inspected the tracks leading onwards, "Very peculiar"

"You think they might have taken Sid?" Manny asked.

"Most likely" Buck answered. "After all, his track included his odorous stench"

"Are we too late then?" worried Ellie.

"Maybe not" said Buck. "Remember those three lil' dinos that got 'im into that ol' mess back then?"

"Wait a minute" said Diego. "You think those three recognized him and picked him up when they remembered their old momma?"

"Spot on, mate!" Buck said enthusiatically. "That's exactly what I thought! You could do well for a mind reader"

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" said Ellie. "Let's go follow him"

But before the herd could move on, Diego spotted a more familiar print not far from those of the others. "Uh oh, I don't think it'll be that easy"

Buck raised his eyebrow and walked towards him, and recognized the footprints immediately on sight.

"Rudy"

Xion the Author: Again, I would like to apologize for not updating! I proofread it a bit too. I just hope you guys are still reading this!

Buck: Please Review!