Here ya go guys! SPECIAL FLASHBACK CHAPTER!

And since u guys were awesome enough to get up to 20 reviews, I'm gonna make it a SERIES of flashbacks and make it extra longer, a treat for u awesome sauces out there! (Got that phrase from Plague's Vengeance, awesome author check her out, so DON'T TELL HER!) So here ya go and hope u enjoy it!

Also, for those who might be having trouble differentiating the difference of age between Taura and Kraz in the beginning, lemme just clarify: For Kraz, think of Simba in his kiddie years when he's singing that 'oh I just can't wait to be king' song. That's around the age he would be, maybe a few weeks older. As for Taura, she would be a few months younger than Kraz, probably just grown out of drinking milk from a mother.

Finally, for those who have been wondering what would Taura's voice sound like, since in here she will speak for the first time to Diego (SPOLIERZZ! XD), and my answer is that the voice actress I would use or Taura would be Meg Turner from SourceFed. I don't really watch her videos, but I saw her on Youtubers React and I really think that if Taura had a voice, it would be hers! XD

Btw, Italics means telepathic

Warning: OC pairing, Don't like, DON'T READ!

Disclaimer: Don't own the Ice Age franchise or any of the characters in it; that all belongs to Blue Sky

Snow was starting to melt and the white curtains of winter were pulled back to reveal the stage of summer. If you stood at the right cave in Half Peak, you would have the perfect view of a lush landscape of bright green grass and towering pine trees. Fruits were now ripe for picking, standing out with their bright colors and intoxicating scents of assuring sweetness. Of course, with a range of fat and ripe fruits and tall grass, came a diverse range of thousands of herds of fat and ripe prey. All of them grazing by random hills or reaching up and trying to pluck the fruit off of the trees. This was the exact scenery that caught Taura's eyes as she sat by the cave's entrance, overlooking the valley below Half Peak.

She was now a few months old, her sabers grown barely long enough to grow out of her mouth. Her fur coat was nearly beige all over, rather than the diverse range of dark browns later on, and her cheeks much more chubbier from her baby fat. Her most recognizable facial characteristic were her wide, innocent eyes. Compared to other full grown sabers, she would probably only reach up to their ankles in height.

"Taura!"

Taura looked back to find her older brother padding towards her. He was twice as large as her; while she was more chubby and round, her brother was starting to grow muscle and height. His fur coat was starting to go brown on his back and legs and he had a tuft of brown fur growing between his ears and covering his left eye, giving him a more rogue-ish look. His sabers were longer than hers, reaching down to his chin. His eyes also had the same shade of amber, but there was the occasional speck of brown here and there around the corners of his iris.

He glanced at her with concern as he looked around with worry "You know you're not supposed to leave the den when it's feeding time!" He then suddenly grinned very brightly as his eyes twinkled with excitement, Taura was nearly able to see the saliva that was threatening to dribble from his watering mouth. "Oh, which reminds me that they brought in this HUGE fatty buffalo carcass and they're giving away the scraps now to the nursing den! Wanna come?" His face then suddenly took a more serious look, "But seriously, you shouldn't be here anyways! Arma would get mad if she saw us here..."

Taura tried to not giggle at her brother's comical mood swings, but she couldn't help herself when she started to grin at him. Whenever there was food involved, Kraz would ramble on in whatever conversation and then halfway through he would suddenly stop whatever they were talking about and point out with a happy grin some dish that was being handed out or commenting on how last night's gazelle was. Ever since Kraz grew out of his toddler years, he started to become more gluttonous and daring. That meant Taura would finish her meals early and end up spending less time with him w'hen he went off looking for more scraps, promising that he would come back before she knew it. She didn't mind of course, whatever made Kraz happy would do the same for her! But it was when the other cubs would barge in that would get her down, because they would start to call her a freak and an outsider and claiming that she would never fit in.

Of course, Kraz was always able to come and save her by either kicking the boys out or yelling at the squealing girls until they started to cry and run to their mommies. That option was never a good one because in the end, they would get a big scolding from Arma (their nurse) and whenever they would walk outside to play, they would catch the eyes of a few of the mothers who would glare at them and whisper behind their backs. Kraz would glare back at them and stand protectively over Taura as she shyly avoided their gazes while trying to hide behind their brother. That only lasted for a while until one day Kraz told her off for being too nervous. "If you let them make you feel that way, it'll only satisfy them!You've gotta never show weakness! Hold your head high! 'Cuz one day, I won't be there to guard you from them!" He said, and after that day, Taura always tried to hold her head high and tried to fight back whenever one of the cubs would taunt her. But she still found it hard to make friends and spoke rather quietly whenever talking with her brother.

Taura shook her head at him and shyly informed him "Arma told me to wait out here," before looking back out to the valley again.

Kraz blinked at her in confusion before tilting his head adorably "She did? Why'd she do that?"

Taura simply shrugged her shoulders, "Might be going to another nursing den, but she said to invite you along as well."

Kraz's eyes widened in surprise, but then started to grin. "Oh! Well, in that case I'll just wait here with you!" He eagerly sat down next to Taura, who reacted instantly to his warm body by cuddling closer to his side and laying her head on his paw. They both stood there silently, enjoying their rare moment of comfort as they gazed at the lush green valleys below Half Peak. Eventually, their moment was interrupted when Arma came in.

"Alright guys, we'll have to be going now if we want to make it back before sunset!" Arma was an average sized female Smilodon who was in her adolescent years, and she was just like your average teenage woman. Her fur coat was the same shade as any average saber in Half Peak: golden coat with a white underbelly, but the color was more pale and had a grey shade to it. Her eyes were a pale blue and she loved to gossip with the other nurses and mothers in the neighboring dens, so this wasn't the first trip they had to take. Technically, Arma wasn't breaking any of Soto's rules, since she was technically still watching over them and they always managed to come back by nightfall. Kraz and Taura didn't mind because every single cave they visited would always be a new one, and they always had fun exploring each one.

Taura and Kraz happily padded over and trotted out of the den with Arma, their nurse leading the way. Half Peak still looked kind of the same, towering black cliffs with jagged edges, except before it didn't have as much holes in it and looked more like a dome chopped into sharp, jagged pieces. The two cubs had to be careful not to trip because the paths connecting all the nursing den caves were narrow ledges that crisscrossed along the cliff walls.

The trio eventually entered a cave that was smaller than the ones that they usually visited. Also, inside were some patches of moss grouped together in a corner which looked like it was used as a bed, and large enough to fit more than just one saber. Near the entrance was a female Smilodon who was expecting them and Taura felt her jaw go slack when she saw her for the first time.

She was absolutely beautiful with a bronze colored pelt that seemed to glow in the darkness of the cave. Her fur looked like it was thoroughly washed everyday and taken extra care of, making it have a glossy shine. Her sabers were very long and reached downwards, at least 2 inches going over her chin; they were very white and slick. Her eyes were a gorgeous bottle-green that seemed to hold a gentle and kind twinkle in them, the pair were both bordered with thick brown lashes that made them look more feminine.

Arma courteously bowed her head in greeting to the older saber, "It is nice to see you again Shama, I hope that you had a nice day today?"

Shama nodded her head in greeting while sending Arma a kind joking smile, making her face seem even more pretty by showing off a row of perfectly aligned canines. "Well, not much to be done on a fine day when you have to stay in bed and take care of an active child," She then looked down to find the two cubs staring at her in wonder, causing her smile to widen in amusement. "Well hello! And who might these two adorable young cubs be?"

Taura was broken out of her stupor and began to take a sudden interest to the cave floor, tracing patterns with her paw shyly while she heard her brother grumble something among the lines of not being adorable or young. They both soon found themselves being showed off by Arma as she cooed with Shama over how adorably wide Taura's eyes were, how big Kraz was starting to grow or how Taura had yet to lose her baby fat. Other than that, it was just an incessant chatter of gossip. On and on they went about this mother giving birth to healthy kits and that warrior who got injured in a brave battle; somehow the conversation went back to the two cubs and Shama then started to complain about how her son was also having the same problem with his baby fat and yet he was able to eat meat now.

"Where is your son by the way?" Arma inquired as she looked around the cave for said cub, "Didn't you say that you were taking care of him all day?"

Shama started to chuckle "Funny you should ask, because he has decided to stand behind me this whole time when he woke up just a few moments ago," She then turned back to encourage her son out of hiding "Diego, don't you want to greet out new guests?"

Kraz and Taura grew curious as to who their eavesdropping friend was and tried to look over Shama's back to see what this 'Diego' looks like. A small, golden head shyly peeped out from behind Shama's back to reveal two bright, hazel eyes peeking out shyly. Diego finally came out from behind Shama's back but hurriedly hid behind his mother's arm. He had the same golden pelt as his mother and his sabers reached down to his chin. He looked to be around Kraz's age and looked like he was starting to grow sideburns under his ears.

"Aw, he's so adorable!" Arma cooed with a smile, "But he doesn't have your eyes, their more hazel!"

Diego frowned a little at the nurse and Taura heard him grumble something along the lines of not being adorable which made her smile a bit. He sounded a lot like Kraz in her opinion. Diego glanced at the beige female cub who was hiding halfway behind her big brother while staring at him with curiosity-filled eyes as her head was tilted a little to the side. Any other cub his age would have found that action quite adorable, but Diego didn't really see what the two big Smilodon's were making such a big deal over; she just looked like any other cub to him, only with a different fur coat.

"Well, go say hello Diego," Shama chuckled at her shy son as she pushed him forward, causing him to stumble a bit. The little cub glared at his mother a bit before walking towards the two cubs. He didn't have many friends, so he wasn't used to being social. He tried to look anywhere but the two inquiring eyes of the cubs in front of him and awkwardly coughed into his paw before introducing himself.

"Um...hi, name's Diego," He mumbled, when he looked up he was surprised to find Kraz grinning at him with a big friendly smile.

"Hiya! I'm Kraz and this is my sis Taura!" Kraz said while snatching Diego's paw and shaking it eagerly. Taura was still trying to hide behind her brother, but gave Diego a shy wave and a small smile.

"Hello," She greeted him, her voice barely above a whisper.

Kraz was still shaking Diego's paw, which he quickly snatched back before the guy would dislocate it or something. Diego looked at the cub and his sister strangely; these two barely knew him and yet her brother greeted him like they were lifelong friends or something.

Arma looked outside to find the sun starting to set, giving the sky a bright orange hue. "Alright guys, we're gonna have to go now," She sighed before nodding her head politely towards the older saber "It's been a pleasure seeing you again Shama!"

Shama repeated the gesture and sent her a warm smile "And I you Arma, I hope to meet you again soon."

Arma quickly shuffled her two cubs towards the cave entrance, trying to make it back in time before nightfall. Taura looked back over her shoulder to find Diego still staring at them. She couldn't tell whether it was with curiosity or with sadness, but she sent him a small smile and a farewell wave before finally letting her brother drag her out of the cave. Little did she know, that this would be the first and last time she would have ever see Diego again before the human attack...

A few years have passed and Half Peak was now under the mercy of the cold winter storm outside. The sky above was bleak with grey, swirling clouds and inside the caves you could hear the howling of the frosty wind. It took Diego nearly half an hour just to trudge through the snow-covered ledges from one cave to another, the biting wind nipping at his face and making it numb for a while. He was now inside the cave looking out at the frozen hell below, protected from the harsh weather. He wished that he was able to observe by his lonesome but unfortunately, Soto had other plans for him today.

There, lying with her back facing him, was a sleek female saber with a brown and beige fur coat. Her left eye was wrapped with a leaf, most of the green color bleached with the blood seeping from her fresh wound. Some parts of her body had the fur ripped clean off revealing the other wounds and bruises from the battle, but they eventually faded away leaving behind a faint purple shade. Taura was her name, if Diego remembered correctly. He could've sworn he'd seen her before some time back, but then passed it off as probably catching a glimpse of her when walking through Half Peak.

She was the only female survivor in their pack and Soto decided to leave her in his charge while he went off in search of others, which kind of annoyed Diego considering he too wanted to look for his companions who might still be alive. Ever since he came in with an antelope leg between his jaws so he can save for later, he found her in the exact same position she was in now, not saying a word. Her face remained expressionless, giving away nothing as to what she might be thinking, her downcast and brooding eyes were the only hints to giving away her haunted mood.

Diego breathed deeply through his nose and looked back outside again. He didn't want her to start some happy-go chat with him and start opening best friends invitations, but he didn't want to sit here doing nothing but watching the snow fall in boredom either! He did try to start a conversation before by asking her if she was hungry or cold, but she remained ignorant to his existence and kept her back towards him.

A sudden loud bellow outside caused him to sharply get to his feet and his fur to bristle. He narrowed his eyes and saw a large figure shuffling through the snow and heading towards Half Peak, the heavy snowfall and wind making it hard for him to make out just WHAT was heading towards them, but whatever it was it certainly was HUGE! "Where is Soto?" Diego grumbled in his head as he heard another loud roar, only this time much more dangerously close. "He should be here by now..."

Diego turned to look at Taura with a stern face "Stay here, I'm going to check what's going on outside."

The female either didn't hear him or simply ignored him because she made no inclination to confirm that she did and simply kept her back towards him. Diego glared at her irritably before finally marching off outside in the snow. He jumped off the ledge and onto the valley ground below, now officially off Half Peak territory. It wasn't the fact that some creature dared to come near saber-tooth grounds is what bothered Diego, it was what kind of creature decided to take shelter with them. If it was simply some gazelle separated from its herd, then Diego can simply use the snow storm to his advantage and pounce on the poor grazer while snapping its neck, leaving him and Taura with more breakfast. If it was a large bison or mammoth however...that was an entirely different story. He and Taura were still injured and if either of that kind of prey happened to wander into their cave, the sight of two predators would make it feel threatened and they would end up being attacked by it.

Diego tried sniffing the animal out, but the cold wind was blowing away from him, making it difficult for him to catch a scent. He then suddenly felt his paw slip into some dent on the snow floor. Diego leaned forward to where his paw slipped to find tracks...bison tracks...and it was heading towards where Taura was...

"Oh no..."

Diego quickly sprinted as fast as he can back to the cave. It would take a while for the bison to climb up the ledge, so if he was able to make it in time, he should be able to cut it off before it reached Taura. Sure enough, a few yards ahead of him, was a large bison trying to clamber its way up the rocky ledges towards the cave to take shelter from the harsh weather. Diego breathed in deeply and roared very loudly, catching its attention immediately. It stopped trying to climb up and bellowed back at Diego with panicked, rage-filled eyes and stomped at the ground angrily. It lowered itself to the ground; breathing heavily through its nose, making it look like there was steam coming out of it and got ready to charge at him.

"Well...this did not go as I expected" Diego muttered with a dry grin, also lowering himself to the ground as he narrowed his eyes threateningly towards the bull-like creature, readying himself for some mauling and piercing attacks from the bison's horns. Soon enough, the creature gave one last bellow and started to charge towards Diego.

Then, like something out of a movie, Diego saw Taura shoot out from the cave entrance above the bison...and pounced on top of it. Needless to say, as soon as Taura did that, all hell broke loose...

The bison to jump and spin around like it was rabid, however Taura still held fast, her claws piercing the bison's hide painfully on each side, which only fueled its anger and caused it to spin around even more faster, bellowing and shrieking in rage and pain. What Taura did next though, caused things to go even worse.

She roared at the bison from behind and then pierced her fangs into its neck. The bison seemed to now go on a rampage; rather than just spinning and jumping around, it was now rolling around on the floor, trying to crush the saber off its back. Taura simply bite harder into the furious bison's neck, causing it to change tactics. The bison glanced at an enormous boulder nearby and started to charge full speed at it. Diego, who had been staring at the entire seen with shock, broke from his stupor and decided to act. A direct hit at that rock would probably kill the bison, but the force would send Taura flying into it as well! This female was risking her life to save him, the least he could do was return the favor!

Taura saw what the bison was trying to do and knew that she couldn't hang on to the bison with a force that strong, but honestly...she didn't care. The only person that she ever cared about, the only one who's ever cared for her has just been killed right in front of her. Now...she had nobody. Taura saw the boulder incoming at a very fast pace, now only a few feet away from them, shut her eyes and waited for the impact.

Suddenly, instead of finding herself lurched forwards, she felt something collide at the side of the bison and sent them all tumbling into the snow. Taura finally let go of the bison which caused her tumbled and collide against the cliff wall. She tried to stand up while groggily shaking her head, but only succeeded into getting her two front arms straight. She looked up only to find her eyes widen when she saw Diego standing in front of her protectively, growling at the bison who was standing a few feet away from them.

It looked at the two sabers for a moment, bellowed at Diego one last time and then trotted away painfully with a limp on one of its legs. Maybe if it only had to fight off one saber, it might have had a chance of winning. But having to face off two AND while half of it's body was bleeding profusely, in addition to a limping foot, it decided to not take that chance.

Diego glared at its retreating back and never looked away until it's large carcass was lost in the storm. He snorted at its direction confidently and turned back towards the female behind him with concerned eyes.

"Are you alright?" Diego asked, looking all over her frame for any new wounds or bruises while Taura just sat there, staring at him in shock. It must have took a while for his question to get to her head, because it wasn't until a moment she finally replied.

She glanced at his right leg with a raised eyebrow before snorting, "You're one to talk..."

Diego felt his eyes widen a bit in shock at the fact that this is the first time she's spoken to him!...Well, technically she didn't SPEAK but he was able to hear her voice in his head, which sounded like...well, any another female voice! He looked down at what she was referring to and found a long, bleeding gash on his right leg. As soon as he saw it, he started to feel the pain flooding his nervous system and winced while tried to loosen the weight on the injured leg.

"C'mon" Diego looked back at Taura and found her getting up and trying to help him walk, "Let's go back to the cave. We need to get that cleaned and wrapped up."

He was pushed up to the ledge with the help from Taura and then lay down on a bed of moss and dried leaves in their cave that she collected from trips to other dens and caves in Half Peak. She first told him to lick the wound clean before she wrapped it tightly with a large banana leaf that she found back in her old den in the infiltration troop caves. Whenever they came back with injured casualties from an infiltration mission, they always had spare banana leaves in some of the sabers' dens. Finally, she went to the back of the cave and dug up the antelope leg that Diego brought in the beginning. At first he denied being hungry, but Taura growled at him and told him that he needed it more than her since he nearly lost a leg. He was about to argue further if it wasn't for his loud protesting stomach that voiced his hunger.

While he was biting off of his antelope meat, he would glance every now and then at the female who stood in front of the cave entrance, keeping watch while she licked her bleeding paws. As she was flung off of the bison, some of her claws were torn off and still stuck to the bison's hide like stubborn thorns. Ever since coming back, she continued her previous routine of silence, except now she would look back at Diego sometimes instead of ignoring him.

"Thanks by the way..." Diego muttered while swallowing his meal. Taura looked back at him and for the first time, gave him a small smile.

"You're welcome..."

"Hey! You're back!"

Summer was back and the now smaller pack had moved to the caves on the cliff side adjacent to the human camp down in the valley below. Soto had forced them to track the human herd for weeks now until they finally settled here, giving Soto the perfect opportunity to plan his revenge: to kill the offspring of the human leader. The mother was now 5 months pregnant, her stomach now a rotund hump as she awkwardly wobbled around in the camp.

It has been 3 months since the bison incident and Taura found herself spending more and more time with her new warden. Again, Soto assigned them both with the same cave but this time, Taura would work at midnight by spying on the humans and their routines while Diego helped with the hunting expeditions during the day and sometimes was by Soto's side plotting or running over strategies. In the beginning, Diego would come back in the afternoon to find Taura in the cave and they would sit by each other and sometimes have small talk or just simply sit and enjoy each others company. Later on, Diego started to bring scraps from his hunts like a leg or meat from the back and he would eat beside her while Taura rambled on about last night and the weird customs humans had or giggle at the crude conversations that she heard from wolves. Slowly but surely, Taura came out of her cold, hard shell and started to show Diego her more happy and mischievous side. Taura started to accept him as a reasonable enough option for a companion because of the many ways her resembled her brother, from his cocky attitude to his soft, hidden moral side.

Taura was waiting for Diego as usual inside the cave and saw him holding something in his mouth and started to bounce eagerly up and down. "Oh oh oh! What is it this time? Juicy thick mammoth steak? Nice fatty antelope?!" She asked him hurriedly as she felt her mouth water just by thinking about it.

Diego rolled his eyes at her with an annoyed expression before finally dropping the carcass: a gazelle leg. Taura licked her lips excitedly and leaned down to take a bite, but felt Diego's paw hit her at the back of her head, causing her face to miss the hunk of meat and land on the floor. "Ow! What the heck Diego?!" Taura glared at him as she rubbed her nose. Diego could've sworn that she was starting to take on her brother's gluttonous traits. He remembered whenever he would join their hunting party, some of the others mocked that if he had his way he would let himself eat half the carcass before taking it back to the pack.

"You've already had an entire bison leg today, this one I'm eating ALONE!" Diego huffed at her, laying down by the carcass and starting to eat from it. Taura glared at him for a while, hoping that somehow her heated stares would drill a hole on his thick skull, but to no avail. She finally gave up into proving that theory and sat down opposite him, watching the sunset behind the giant glaciers on the horizon.

"You know it's not my fault that the only prey you catch are small weak ones..." Diego suddenly remarked with feigned innocence while smirking smugly at Taura with a bloody muzzle, causing her to cringe in disgust but in a matter of seconds her face scrunched up in fury. Diego ignored the glares that would've set an entire forest on fire and continued to much away innocently at his antelope leg. Taura had half a mind to rip that smug smirk off of his face and give him a few new scars on his ugly mug, but then a new and much more sly idea came in her head, causing her to grin with an impish gleam in her eyes.

Diego saw Taura at the corner of his eyes saunter towards him and lean her head in so that her mouth was a few centimeters away from his ear.

"Can't I at least have a lick?" Taura whispered innocently. Diego glanced at her face that held nothing but the innocence in her voice, but there was some kind of twinkle in her eyes that made him feel a little nervous.

"Uh...sure, why not?" the reply coming out more like a question rather than an assurance. Diego went back to eating at his antelope, but then suddenly paused when he felt something warm and wet slide all the way up his cheek, causing some of the blood to come off...

...Oh dear god...she actually LICKED him...

Taura could've sworn with malicious delight and an inward grin that Diego flew at least 4 ft in the air away from her before roaring at her.

"'the heck Taura?!" Diego roared, rubbing his paw furiously on his cheek, looking like some schoolboy who was trying to get rid of the cooties. Taura ignored his enraged glares and continued to taunt him while batting her eyelashes at him with a playful smirk.

"Mmm, you taste like antelope!" She giggled at his shocked expression "And it's not my fault that you get blood all over yourself!"

Diego broke from his shocked stupor and growled at her irritably before stomping off to the moss bed in the corner of the cave, hoping to whatever deity above that Taura didn't see the heat that rose to his face.

"I'm not hungry anymore, I'm going to bed..." Diego grumbled before plunking himself on the soft vegetation. Before he went to sleep though, he was able to hear one last giggling message from Taura:

"I have a feeling that you and me are gonna be spending a LO~ONG time together pal...