Xion the Author: Awwww… one review only? Well, thanks for the review anyways, I appreciate it. But I will still continue writing this because I can't stop! Even if I take around 2-3 weeks to start working on a chapter, and then spend around 3 hours just to finish it!

Diego: Is that just laziness? Or do you have a reason for that?

Xion the Author: Both but whatever, on with the new chapter!

ICE AGE: RAISING A CUB

Chapter XV: Battles

"Ruuun!" shouted the herd as they scurried off out of the way. Rudy snapped a giant bite where they had been. Egbert, Shelly, and Yoko ran towards their mother's skeleton. Sid followed them and spanned his arms wide as if covering them from the giant beast in front. Sid was terrified. As the three whimpered behind him, Sid knew that there wasn't anything he could do. They were right, no matter how much he cared for them, he wasn't the right person to raise them up.

Rudy flashed his orange eyes towards Sid which left him aghast, frozen in extreme fright. He fainted on the spot. Luckily, Rudy turned his attention to where rocks were being thrown at him. Buck snarled at him as he ran away from the rest of the herd, leaving Rudy in a stampede towards him. With nothing around them, surrounded only by a barren wasteland containing nothing.

All Buck had with him was his mad wits, and the knife he held which was potentially dangerous as the beast behind him as long as it was in his hands. Buck could never outrun him. A weasel against a gargantuan monster, he would be no match.

"Take Sid and his kids and get as far away as you can" warned Manny.

"Manny!" yelled Ellie before he ran out to help the others. Manny looked back at her with determined eyes, his unwavering bravery built up within his stature. Ellie could see that there was no use stopping him. "Be careful"

Rudy was about to snap his jaws towards the weasel when a versatile figure caught Buck and thus dodged his attack. Diego grabbed Buck towards in time for them get out of the way. Rudy was about to attempt another huge bite when Manny stampeded towards his left foot, pushing his tusks towards it and making him stumble down to the ground. The mammoth running opposite the direction he was stumbling to, Buck rode on Diego as the one-eyed weasel jumped on top of the white beast. Buck, with knife in hand, slashed the monster's right eye. The intense pain caused the dinosaur's body to jerk, forcing himself to rise up. Buck flung high in the air. Rudy roared in agony as Buck fell downwards.

"An eye for an eye, snowflake!" shouted Buck in glory, finally getting the saying right. Diego raced towards the falling hero and catched him just in time.

Diego ran towards Manny. They watched the enormous dinosaur pace left and right in search of them, only to have its last left eye meet against Buck's.

"There's no stopping him this way," said Diego as Rudy once again began to rush towards them. Buck held within his right paw the knife fashioned out of the monster's tooth. He let his left thumb brush against the entire length of the blade before finally mustering his resolve.

"Mammals, I've got an idea," Buck said fiercely. He discussed the plans to them as his archenemy rampaged towards them, his feet thundering against the ground. "With me now lads! Giddy up!" he shouted as he rode on Diego.

Diego ran up ahead first, making Rudy bite and stomp in mid air as he swiftly evaded every attack. As soon as he caught the dinosaur's attention, Manny made one last tackled against his foot. Rudy toddled for a while, but no luck. He was able maintain his balance.

"One more time!" bellowed Buck valiantly. "Go!"

Ellie, who was able to manage to get Sid out of the way near the trees and far from the battle, simply watched from afar. The three dinos worried sick of their 'mother', also couldn't help but notice the noise caused by the uproar they made at the center of the wastelands. Sid began to open his eyes from the ruckus, noticing as well the position they were in.

Diego once again ran left and right against every stomp, snap, bite and slam. He tried to keep its attention well at him, but it seemed that the colossal brute wasn't as dumb as he was. He had learned their pattern all too well, and would come in and attack Manny every once in a while. With his slow demeanor, his was lucky enough to avoid getting hurt.

The saber-tooth tiger began to breathe heavily. As much as he had regained his edge, he still had his limits. He tried to keep up as much as he could, but his reflexes were beginning to deteriorate faster than his stamina. One mistake in his footing, and Rudy was about to slam his tail right towards them.

Suddenly, just as they thought their doom was about to come to them, Egbert, Shelly, and Yoko bit and scratched at Rudy's right foot, causing him to flinch and stop his blow a split second enough for Diego and Buck to get away.

"Now!" Buck commanded, and Manny gave one last heave against Rudy's other foot, finally causing him to collapse downwards. Buck pierced his knife towards the ground, causing it to crack, and the monumental thud gave it one big push as it fissured across every direction. Diego nabbed at Buck as red lights began to glow through the crevices.

Buck held on to his knife as he was lurched away from it. His right hand sliding across the end of the handle. A fraction of a second, which seemed like an eternity for him. That knife symbolized his entire life, devoted to nothing but danger and adventure. It seemed as though a large part of him dissolved away into a sea of red.

Diego, Manny and the three dinos started to flee. Buck was riding on Diego, who sat as he faced the opposite direction, staring at Rudy as the towering beast sunk down into a pit of fire and lava. Its dark silhouette disappearing into the ground, its red eyes flaring in what seemed like a lost rage of a maddened beast. A maddened beast that was just as mad as he was.

The ground submerged into the sea of lava. A large pool of lava reached out. The fissures had unfortunately reached towards the skeleton of the dinosaurs' dear mother, causing it to capsize into the world as well. The three watched in despair as the last living memory of what they had of their mother had disappeared. Sid felt their sorrow, and had tried to comfort them the best way he could. By simply being as close to them as possible.

"Wow... never though' I'd feel as empty like this again," said Buck as the final image of his 'adventure', had gone down into the unknown.

"Don't worry, Buck," said Diego. "I'm sure there'll be plenty of other dinosaurs you could go chasing about"

"I dunno… he was sorta a different case," said Buck sadly, but wiped the frown off his face as quick as he could. "But, eithah way, now that ol' snowflake won't be botherin' us anymoah, first things first we gotta get you back up the-ah" he said, pointing towards the light blue ceiling made entirely of ice"

"Looks like Sid has come to his senses," said Manny. "So I'm guessing we can start moving out again. Hopefully there won't be any more distractions"

"I have a feeling it'll still be a long journey ahead of us," Ellie said.

"Hey guys!" said Sid in excitement. "I know I should probably leave them, but, can these guys tag along for a while?"

Manny, as much as he rejected the thought, knew it would crush Sid if they wouldn't let him. "Fine," he said. "But they can't follow us when we reach the surface. It's too dangerous… for the other animals."

Sid stretched a wide smile as he hugged the three dinos once again in excitement. Although he knew he would have to leave them soon, he'd cherish every last moment he had together with them.

Buck picked up a stick, inspected its strength and durability, and settled for it for now just to have something to point with. "Well come on then lads,"

But just as soon as they started traveling again, Diego's eyes began to blur. He tried hard to keep them open, but soon enough his legs had given up on him, causing him to collapse unto the ground in fatigue.

"Godfather!" Butch and Russel squawked as they approached the tall dark figure. "We have them!"

The two giant birds, Seth and Dan, dropped their load in mid air. The two wolves rolled on the ground on impact.

"Excellent!" the Don said in a joyful yet scary manner. The two wolves looked up to see the vulture perched on the top of a large mound.

"So, you're this Ricardo guy," Eli grimaced.

"My dad is going to rip you to shreds," Leah taunted.

"Ooooh, 'ow intimidating," Ricardo mocked, "But perhaps you'd first want to know that you can't do anything at the moment"

Eli snarled at him. Ricardo simply shrugged it off as if in disgust. "Bring them to deir cells, its time I confronted Flik."

"Flik?" Leah whispered to herself, thinking if it was the same person she knew.

"What have you done to Peaches?" Eli growled, realizing if he had Flik, he'd also have the others.

Ricardo ignored him as the two wolves were suddenly pushed by one of the large birds. They made them walk as Ricardo, who was feeling self-triumphant, led the way where Flik was held at.

Ricardo let Seth open the boulder that blocked the way out. However, upon doing so, a large figure slammed into the giant bird. The bird, though as large as it was, had his belly crushed into a wall before sliding unto the ground unconscious with a funny look on his face, his eyes wide open with his tongue sticking out.

"Peaches!" shouted the two wolves. Leah, who took the advantage of surprise, bit the leg of Don Ricardo. The vulture screeched in pain as the three began to flee.

"Run!" shouted Peaches. Ricardo hopped up and down, shaking from the wound.

"Don, are you all right?" worried his two henchmen, Butch and Russel.

"You fools! Go after dem!" he commanded. They flinched backwards as he swiped his wings at them before they started flapping away in chase of the three. The disgruntled vulture hopped past the unconscious bird towards the prison cell. He glared left and right into the now empty room. "Where is he?" he enraged. He spotted the small hole in the ceiling and he squinted his eyes as his temper had finally reached over its limits.

The three started to make their way back into the large room where Ricardo's 'throne' was located. Black birds in the shadows opened their red eyes, glowing as they stared at them. The three walked backwards cornered as they gawked at them. Suddenly, right outside the exit, they spotted a few birds flying away in fright.

"Attack!" howled Nathan with Eddie, as they led what seemed like the entire pack of wolves.

"Brother!" called out Leah. As the wolves began to seize the large cavern, the other birds flying down to confront them.

"Uncle Eddie!" called out Eli.

"What did I tell you about not getting into anymore trouble?" scolded the two to them as they ran towards them. Leah and Nathan hugged momentarily as a few vultures began to attack them. The two siblings growled at birds in front of them while Eli growled at the ones approaching from behind. Peaches picked up a nearby stone and threw it at one of them. It hit one in the head and it collapsed down to the ground. Eli dodged lunging birds towards him. As one passed by right above him, Eddie slinged a pebble into its eye, causing it to go blind and fly out of balance and crash unto a wall.

"Don't back down!" howled Matthias with a battle cry. The battle raged on as birds flew high and swooped down while the wolves bit and clawed against them.

"A war, is it?" grunted Ricardo to himself, "Fine." He flew up to the highest peak of cavern. "Show them how the Bloodwings fight! They cannot win! We have the advantage of the sky!"

Eli growled. As much as hated to admit it, it was true. Wolves couldn't fly, and these birds don't seem to be running out of air any time soon. Though his morale went down, however, he didn't back down but continued to hope for a miracle.

"Will you do the honors?" asked Flik earnestly. Crash grinned as he raised the glowing feather high into the air.

"Chaaaaaaaaaarge!" he yelled as hundreds and hundreds of birds of all sizes began to seize their way into the cavern. Dozens of blue birds pecking and pulling at one of the vulture as it helplessly tried to shake them off. Owls and eagles and hawks and falcons confronted them against their cause. White and colored all against black.

"What?" Ricardo squawked in surprise. He stupor why birds suddenly began to attack when he saw the emanating glow of the Rainbow Feather in hands of possum, who was riding on top of a face he knew all the well. "Flik..!"

The battle continued, but now the wolves have turned the tide with the aid of reinforcements. Ricardo knew he was about to lose. In a desperate attempt to get things under control, he dived fiercely towards Flik. In the corner of his eye, he had noticed the incoming vulture, and the osprey automatically evaded the attack. Crash almost let go of the feather by an inch from the sudden brush of close impact. Flik soared left and right as Ricardo sped up towards him. Crash noticed the reckless attacks that from behind and screamed in fear of his burning eyes.

Dozens of birds tried to stop him, but they were simply brushed off as if nothing was compared to his lust to gain the power of the feather. Flik flew down near the fight of wolves and birds. As smart as he was, he knew that there was hardly anything stopping his vehemence. Not even the power of the feather could overpower a frenzied bird without consciousness. With timing and precision, he flew up just in time for Ricardo to see for a last time something from mid-air. Matthias jumped up and crushed his right wing, causing him to scream in pain and crash land near the exit of the cavern.

Everyone had heard him, and they all immediately stopped from fighting. Matthias, bit down harder first before letting go. "That's for abducting my daughter"

"Dad!" Leah shouted as she ran towards her father and hugged her. Suddenly, everyone didn't want to fight. To lose the ability to fly is the bird's worst nightmare (penguin excluded). Ricardo crawled at the ground, nearing the edge of the mountain. His eyes burning in madness, or at least was drowning away in grief and despair. He had lost, and to lose everything was better than to live with nothing else.

"Don't do it Ricardo!" shouted Flik as he flew down to meet his former friend.

Eli and the others made their way towards the scene. Eddie spotted his twin brother unmounting from the osprey, and immediately scurried towards him with a hug. "Bro!" he yelled. "I miss you!"

One large squeeze and Crash commented, "Not cool bro, but, I miss you too". The two possum brothers finally reunited as a team of who knows what stunts will occur.

"Heh, you always were the brains behind everything," Ricardo said admittedly, his rage whittled down into nothing.

"We can work things out," Flik persuaded, holding the feather in with his wing around it, "We can still-"

But before Flik had anything else to say, Ricardo threw himself over the cliff. Other averted their eyes away as the sudden end of events swayed their hearts from fighting no longer.

"Why didn't he stop?" asked Peaches, who spotted the shimmering feather.

"He… probably didn't want to be forced into something he didn't desire," Flik lamented. "That is… the evil of this relic"

"What do we do from here now?" asked a voice over the crowd of birds and canines. Butch and Russel appeared before the crowd, and had the same fear in their eyes as Ricardo before his moment of death. Flik eyed the feather one last time, and knew that it wasn't the right thing to use it.

"From here on, I will lead," Flik, with all regards to his friend's death, announced with as much pride and gaiety he could muster.

"Flik?" shouted Eli and the others.

"This place has become far too long as a family, and though they may not be as ordinary as they look, they a part of one belonging," Flik said. Words that lingered into Eli's head.

All the vultures and crows and ravens looked at each other, and without a shade of doubt agreed to his proposition.

"Then what's your first royal decree then, Godfather?" Russel asked.

"From here on, all the birds are welcome. Everyone will be," Flik proclaimed. "Our family will no longer pick from the weak, and instead befriend them and become as equal"

"They might not like us at first though," Butch muttered. "I mean, after all we had done to them"

"Then we apologize," Flik replied. "It took time to gain their fear, and it will take time to gain their trust back. But one day, everything will all go back to way they were"

Eli smiled. Joyful that things didn't end up as bitter as it looked. Everything was once again starting off to a fresh start. Once enemies were suddenly apologizing, and were becoming friends quicker than he thought. As he took one step forward however, his mind began to get dizzy and before he realized it his body fell to the ground in exhaustion.

Xion the Author: And thus ends the epic chapter! Wooh! Worth the time it took to wait? Hopefully. There were a lot more things I wanted to put in but it appears that I should save it for the next chapter. Phew! Finally! I can just work on two groups branched out again! And, yes, there might be things you'd want to ask about the events about maybe why not do this when its like that and stuff and stuff, but I really want to have an average number of words per chapter so for now please make do with the cliffhanger. And this chapter might have looked rushed :D

And just in case I might not be able to greet you guys in the next chapter, Happy Holidays!