Xion the Author: I made a mistake!

Crash: You sure did.

Xion the Author: [in response to Earthpatriot117] I forgot to include their ages! T.T In the original draft of chapter 4, the amount of time passed since Eli was adopted was included, but since I redid everything in that chapter I forgot to write it down again! Thank you for reminding me though

Eli: What about the part of how big I am?

Xion the Author: Maybe the readers might not be able to judge that entirely since I didn't give your specific age. But in any case he's just a regular sized wolf that's for sure. I'll try to specify his age in the subtlest way possible. So not in the A/N. As for the size I thought most people wouldn't be able to tell from an exact measurement, so I left it off in my imagination as a normal sized wolf (though I didn't really mention that). And what the beep! It's been a while since anyone updated... but without further ado, here's the new chap!

ICE AGE JOURNEYS: RAISING A CUB

Chapter XIII: Bad Medicine

"Well… here we are!" said Leah enthusiastically as she showed to Eli the beautiful plateau that sat atop the landscape of birch trees. Eli could hardly describe how he felt. Wolves of different colors were there; from gold, orange, brown, gray or black, the Little wolf cubs playing around, old ones playing cards with leaves and nuts; Eli felt a strange feeling of welcome as he first stepped paw towards it. The view below the gray rock he stood upon was magnificent. Endless birch trees spanning across the horizon. Enchanted by the pure spectacle, he could hardly take in any other specific detail as he was caught breathless.

Eli gradually caught the attention of the other wolves in the pack. Lest did he know that he was the only white wolf in the entire plateau.

"Got enough sight-seeing?" Leah said as he grabbed Eli's attention away from the scenery. "Come on, let's go see my father"

Eli noticed the glaring wondrous eyes which belt nervous tension around him. Eddie could feel him trembling.

Beside the plateau was a giant waterfall that rushed blue water, lights shimmering from the morning sun. A large mountain rested near the plateau. They entered a large cave in the side of mountain, right beside the gushing waters to overhear echoing voices.

"Do you really think she'll be okay?" asked a largely-built wolf to an older yet stern figure.

"Go ask for yourself?" said the other wolf, pointing towards the entrance. The two wolves stood atop a higher platform inside the covered passageway, suggesting they were of a higher position.

The largely-built wolf looked ahead to see. "Leah!" he shouted. "You're back! Are you alright? Did you get hurt? Did something happen to you?"

"I'm fine, big brother" said Leah as the frantic black wolf rubbed her muzzle. "And hello father"

"It's good to see you home, daughter" said the tall stern looking wolf. From the entire pack, he was the first wolf Eli saw whose fur was white. "And I see you've brought a friend with you" he said, noticing Eli in the background, and a possum who was waving his arms in the air trying to catch his attention.

"Dad, this is Eli" introduced Leah. "He came looking for wolves like him all around, so I brought him here"

"You didn't hurt my little sister now did you?" the black wolf staring fiercely unto him.

"Uh… no- not at all" mumbled Eli, who was taken aback by the wolf's stare. The black wolf stared a few more seconds at him before finally reaching his paw towards him.

"Nathan" he said. "Name's Nathan"

"Hi… Eli…" he said nervously as he slowly reached his own paw to shake his.

"My name's Eddie!" greeted the small opossum as he seemingly popped out of his head.

"Uh, hey. Nice to meetcha too" he said, let his paw be shaken up-and-down by the possums two hands.

"Nathan, don't scare him" said Leah. The brown wolf worried about the two.

"Sorry, just wanted to see if he was telling the truth" Nathan explained. He had a low manly yet playful voice.

"I seem to be oblivious to the reason you brought him here" the pack alpha said as he sat on top the platform. He had a stern yet gently voice, and had a distinctive scar on his left eye but eye itself remained intact.

"Well, he had your color of fur, so I kinda wanted thought maybe I could trust him" she said "So I put him on a test like you probably would have"

"Is that what took you so long to return from your scout patrol?" he asked. Leah stood silently, knowing she was supposed to take only so much time away from the pack. Her father waited for an answer until he noticed Leah in discomfort with the others behind her. "Leave me with my daughter for the moment please. I would like to talk to you later, Eli" The white wolf nodded and the black wolf showed him out with him.

Nathan sighed. "Oh gee, my lil' sis can't seem to stop herself from getting in trouble" he said as they walked out.

"It's not her fault – I mean – it was our idea" said Eddie.

"Don't worry, our dad isn't really the kind to be misjudgeful about things" said Nathan. "That's what got him the position of pack leader in the first place. His name is Matthias by the way"

Eli admired the tone he put in about him. He seemed really proud of his own father. Which then, in turn, reminded Eli of his old, blood-related father, and then Diego.

As the two conversed at the mouth of the tunnel, Leah was explaining to her father about Eli.

"You see dad, that's how I judged him" Leah said after explaining to her father the test she put Eli in.

"I see. It was quite clever of you. But for you to decide so quickly, I feel like you have some other reason" her father intrigued, making a face that Leah could easily read.

The brown wolf blushed. "I-It's nothing like that!" Her father grinned as she tried to look away from his mischievous smile.

"I can see you like him. A lot. Unlike the other wolves you seem to be uninterested in" Matthias said.

"I-is that everything you wanted to ask me?" Leah said, getting slightly uncomfortable by the way her father acted.

Matthias gave a slight chuckle. "Yes, that would be all" he grinned "Unless of course, there's something you want to ask me-"

"Okay dad" Leah cut him off and walked away as fast as she could.

"And tell the young lad to come over here!" Matthias shouted before she set paw outside.

Leah exited the large cavern blushing intensely, desperately trying to hide her discomfort. The two guys approached her as they caught her from the corner of their eyes.

"He… wants to speak to you" Leah said as casual as possible.

"Err… okay" Eli muttered

"Don't worry, I'm here for ya' nephew" encouraged Eddie before they went in on their own.

The three dinosaurs rushed in towards a large cave as well. Sid landed on the ground, a soft thud as he clambered back up. He shifted himself to the left so he would uneventfully fall down as his mount no longer galloped wildly and started to slowly walk. The ride was long and uncomfortable, leaving a sore him a sore tush. Sid was glad it was finally over, at least. He was glad as he was surprised to be seemingly "kidnapped" by his own kids.

They were inside a large hallow cave. The wall's had a reddish tint, which made the atmosphere somehow alive. The lava glowed from holes all around the cave. Sid looked around ominously to see humongous cavern only to fix his eyes to a certain point.

To the far corner of the tunnel was giant skeleton. Largely built, a large head with a giant spine extending far deeper into the corner. A few ribs intact, though three or four weren't there. Sid stood aghast as he slowly approached the large cadaver.

Egbert, Shelly, and Yoko caressed the large skull. Sid slowly crept his arm out to touch the giant forehead. He rubbed it smoothly; knowing who the figure was all too well. "How long had I been gone?" said Sid as he looked around. The three dino's surrounding him, and their mother's corpse lying right in front of him.

Sid wondered why they took him off so quickly. The must've missed their mother's attention. And seeing him again must have gave them a spark of hope as he had been sort-of like a mother to them before. Sid hugged the three dinos as they buried their heads towards him. Their heads were a bit bigger than before, which made the hug a bit more harder to cope with. A large ball of water dropped from his eye.

"Don't worry kids," said Sid. "I'm not leaving you guys… not anymore"

"Ummmm… Flik. Where are we going?" said Crash as he held on tightly as the osprey flew through the sky, slowly descending. "We're supposed to look for help, or possibly, Elias?"

"I've got a better idea" he said. Suddenly, Flik flapped his wings hard as he rushed down faster. Crash's grip got tighter, and he was worried he might pluck the feathers right out. Crash screamed as Flik seemed to rushed directly towards the ground. A few meters before what he thought was impact, he slipped right through a hole. It was like they went through a deep narrow burrow as they exited right into a world where dinosaurs existed.

"Where do the tracks lead us, Buck?" asked Diego.

"Suhprisingly, there doesn't seem to be anythin' that's worth having an excitin' adventure he-ah" he said, in his entire accent's glory.

"Then, we just walk through here, and we find Sid? That's it?" asked Ellie.

"Pretty much" Buck said blandly out of tone.

Manny looked around to see the landscape change from a green leafy jungle to a red terrain filled with crevices in the ground with a distinct red-orange tint. Not a plant or even a sign of life anywhere. "Then we'd better get moving. Nothing unpredictable can happen right?"

Two loud thuds slammed down behind them. Followed by a monstrous roar that echoed as far as the eye can reach. The herd turned around to see what they had feared the most.

"Rudy" Buck said with a defiant courageous tone. Their eyes met with fierce intent. Rudy's eyes burned with rage as the herd shuddered in fear. Rudy raised his foot around ten meters high.

"Run!" shouted Ellie. The herd scattered off as Rudy's foot slammed towards the ground.

"What exactly do you have against him that he keeps chasing you?" shouted Manny at Buck.

"Cause he's Rudy!" Buck bellowed as he jumped up instantly climbed on Diego. "Giddy up!"

"Hey!" Diego shouted, irritated by Buck suddenly mounting on him like a horse.

"Less ranting more sprinting mate!" Buck bellowed wildly as Rudy chased them, and catching up quick.

Diego looked around only to see a completely dry and deserted landscape. Nothing he could see that they could use to their advantage. "Got any bright ideas weasel?" he asked.

One large thud behind cracked Buck an idea. "Magma is a funny word don'tcha think?" said Buck before barrel rolling into the air. The saber tooth ran ahead of him while he was in the air, and Buck pierced his knife into the ground. Cracks formed as the two mammoths ran across him. Buck pulled out his knife as Manny grabbed him up as they ran.

"Just like ice" Buck said mischievously as the small crevices in the ground gradually cracked further and further connecting each other. Rudy stopped in his stampede as his the ground his foot rested on slided across unknowingly. Plates of the ground floated as a pool of magma gradually appeared. Rudy backed up immediately as the herd continued to run.

"Hahaha! Try to catch us now snowflake!" Buck bellowed wildly. Rudy disappeared in a fog of steam from the hot lava. His glowing red eyes the last to disappear.

"Great job, Buck. But now we have another problem" said Diego. The cracks were reaching towards them. The ground slowly pulled apart.

"Well…" Buck said "At least we won't get eaten" The herd rushed off running for their lives once again.

"Huh? What's that large fog over there?" wondered Crash as he saw a cloud of hot steam that made everything below disappear from overhead. "Think we should check it out?"

"Don't mind that. We're here for a certain objective" explained Flik.

"Wait – this is where you hid that feather thingy?" Crash said.

"Yes – but what makes me wonder the most is... you don't seem surprised of what you're seeing right now" Flik said. "You do realize we're in a completely different world below ours"

"Well… you see, I've kinda been here before" Crash answered.

"Really?" Flik said in disbelief.

"Yeah, it's something we could talk about some other time, but right now let's just focus on getting that feather thingy" the opossum said.

"Right. It should be close" he said, and the two flew off without knowing they passed through the herd which was just below them.

Xion the Author: I really wanted to focus on the herd more… but it felt like I just made things equal for everyone, except for a Crash and Flik… and Peaches isn't mentioned in the story at all (please don't hate me)

Peaches: So I'll just do some random dialogues with the author (really, its just the same person…)

Xion the Author: Right… so I'll leave explaining the title to you then *pretends to leave room*

Peaches: Okay *ahem* Since you're probably wondering why the chapter title is weird, we may refer to Bon Jovi. The "author" listened to this song while he wrote this, and he couldn't really think of a proper title… and "Bad Medicine" was playing coincidentally… and it's not like those two words has a copyright when used together so… :D