Hey guys! This chapter's longer than the last one, I hope ya don't mind. Btw, IMPORTANT MESSAGE!
I won't be updating for a while on this story, becuz recently fans from my deviantart account have been asking me to update my shira/diego story. Also, don't bother reading it. Cuz it's really old and compared to this one, it sucks really bad. Another important thing: as soon as I come back to update, it won't be on the movie, it'll be for the special one-shot chapter with ur OC's. Other than that, don't bother looking up my deviantart account if it's for the art, cuz there isn't any on my account, only the story.
Anywho, hope ya had a happy new year and here are the replies to ur super-licious reviews:
ScarletWolfx: Thank you, and haha, for some reason, it's not a far-fetched thing to imagine.
TimberPaw: Haha, thank you! I at first originaly would've thought of her reacting that way, but then I thought "Nah, she's too laid-back to be that angry!" X3 So I decided, what the heck? Those two possums could use the extra play mate.
Shiego627: Haha, thanks a bunch! Didn't know that it made you laugh, I'm glad it did! Ur welcome and hopee ya like this chapter.
Sarahbara: Ur welcome, and if u keep up the good reviews, u might receive virtual tacos! X3
Villains' Bad Girl: Well, you'll just have to find out in this chapter! XD Yeah, that's what makes her so unique!
GoldenSaber: Who doesn't like Buck? He's just awesome! XD Ur welcome and I doubt she can get Diego to loosen up THAT much, but we'll just have to see in Ice Age 3! XD
Italics means telepathic communication
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
Some giant green monster erupted from the sea below and crashed back down into the water; its giant weight made the ice layer that they were walking on to crack and separate into smaller chunks of ice. Some time during the sudden attack, Sid flew into the air and landed in the water; Diego got separated from the others and was stuck on a floating chunk of ice barely his size; Ellie was unconscious on another floating piece of ice while her brothers tried to bring her back from her sleep and Manny and Taura were the only ones conscious and standing still with shock.
Suddenly, another creature crashed its head through the ice and hissed at Manny and Taura, both of them finally breaking from their stupor and running as fast as they could on the largest chunk of ice left. This one was purple and looked more crocodile-like in comparison to its more larger friend.
While the two mammals ran, Manny looked back and found the shadow of the crocodile monster chasing after them under the water and fast! When he looked back up front again, Manny's eyes widened in shock when he found him and Taura at a dead end of their ice chunk. Taura shoved his shoulder roughly as they ran and guided him to another smaller ice layer that was floating to their left. They both leaped over the small gap of water between the two floating ice chunks and landed safely, both breathing heavily as they tried to catch their breath. But no matter how many gulps of oxygen they both took, it didn't stop their hearts from beating very wildly in their chests as they looked around anxiously for the sign of the purple crocodile monster.
The purple monster suddenly leapt out of the water and tried to take a bite at Manny as it landed on the ice with them. Manny dodged this way and that as the crocodile continued to leap at him with its crashing jaws. Just as it was about to take another bite at Manny, Taura roared at it threateningly and swiped at the underside of its mouth with her claws, the force of her blow making it hurl back to the edge of the ice chunk. The other side that the crocodile was on got higher and higher as Manny's large weight leaned more on the opposite edge, the tipping berg made Taura cling onto Manny's leg with her claws so she wouldn't fall into the water.
Taura glanced fearfully at how high above the crocodile was on that edge, "Why did I have to whack him that hard?!"
The crocodile hissed at them with an evil smirk as it shuffled towards the terrified pair trapped on the edge and finally leaped at them both. Taura was about to jump at the crocodile to force it back again, but then paused when she found the monster's leap paused halfway. It's wide-open jaws were stuck on Manny's tusks...Normally, Taura would've laughed her butt off at how ridiculous the predator looked, but the near-death situation seeped whatever humor was left. Taura noticed Manny glancing back at Ellie, who looked at them both with worried eyes as she stood at the shore safely.
Manny furrowed his brows as he stepped away from the ledge and grunted out loudly as he threw the giant purple monster back into the water. Manny walked away towards the safe shore, but not before glaring threateningly at the two creatures that still had their heads above the surface glaring back them, but then quickly sank back into the water.
Manny felt a tugging at his leg and looked down to find Taura looking up at him with worried eyes as she gestured to his tusks and the rest of his body, the question she was asking eventually made clear.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He huffed out as he smiled gratefully for her concern as he walked away to the safety of the shore, Taura right next to him.
"What in the name of the animal kingdom was THAT?!" Sid yelped as he glanced fearfully at the giant bite mark on the edge of the ice shore, Taura's eyes also widened at the huge chunk of ice missing there. "No way...their jaws are THAT powerful?!" She gasped in her head as she stared in awe and fear for a moment at the sheer size of the bite mark.
"I don't know, but from now on: Land safe, water not safe!" Diego panted as he hurriedly walked away with Manny towards where the other three mammals were waiting for them. Taura was about to walk away but quickly tugged at Sid's arm when she found him still staring fearfully at the bite mark.
As the four made their way towards Ellie and the possums, the she-moth said to Manfred with a wry smile "That was the bravest thing I've ever seen."
Manny thought that she was praising him and shrugged nonchalantly with a sheepish half-smile "It was nothing really, I-uh"
"Oh it wasn't a compliment," Ellie interrupted him as she continued with a roll of her eyes as she walked away"To a possum, bravery is just dumb!"
"Yeah, we're spineless!" Crash added in as he turned away from them following his sister.
"Lilly-livered!" Eddie proclaimed proudly with a turn of his head as he followed after his brother. Taura raised an eyebrow at the two with an 'are-you-serious' look before she looked side-ways at Manny, who gave the same look to Diego.
"Maybe mammoths are going extinct because they put themselves in danger too often," Ellie pondered out-loud before looking back at Manny with a nonchalant shrug "Maybe you should run away more!"
Manny stared at her in shock for a moment before a tight-ipped smile spread across his face as he called at her sarcastically "Good point, thanks for the advise!"
Ellie apparently didn't catch onto his sarcasm and simply happily called back "Happy to help!" while walking away, the two possums dangling from her tail while waving cheerfully at the four.
"Can you believe her?!" Manny growled out frustratingly before he raised his voice up a ridiculously higher octave as he girlishly waved his trunk around " 'Bravery's just dumb, maybe you should run away more!' " his voice then went back to normal as he glared at the she-moth's retreating back while snapping "She's infuriating, stubborn and narrow-minded!"
Sid looked up at Manny with a cheeky grin and wagged his finger at him before teasing "Oooh, you like her!"
Manny huffed at him irritably before snapping "I do not!" and walking away to the forest.
Sid didn't pay any attention to the fuming mammoth and continued to grin as he yelled at his retreating form "Oh don't worry, you're secret's safe with me!" He then glanced at Diego and added in "Oh, and so are both of yours."
Diego looked back at the sloth with a scowl before asking him "What secrets?"
If possible, Sid's grin widened even further as he shuffled next to him "Y'know, the one where you can't swim?"
"That's ridiculous!" Diego huffed derisively as he carefully stepped on a rock stuck in the middle of a miniature river. Sid smirked smugly at the tiger's actions, since they proved his point exactly. The sloth then shuffled into the water loudly, purposefully making big splashes as he walked ahead of the saber while looking at him smugly.
"Fine, but we're living in a melting world buddy!" Sid shrugged as he 'splashed' by with the same smug smirk "You're gonna have to face your fear sooner or later!"
Diego looked at the waddling sloth with a stoic face before gruffly replying with a sneer as he walked next to the sloth "Well if you're so smart, care to tell me what's the second secret that you happen to know?"
All that he got in reply from Sid was his bouncing eyebrows and an even wider grin for a moment, before he then decided to enlighten the obviously clueless saber.
"Oh I think you know..." Sid teased Diego as he nudged his shoulder, letting his sentence hang in the air. At first, Diego's scowl turned even further with irritation at how cryptic the sloth was acting, but then Sid started to nod towards a certain female saber who was listening with a nervous smile at Manny's rant about how annoying Ellie was. He then understood what Sid was trying to imply.
"Oh give me a break!" Diego snorted with a roll of his eyes, the mere idea of it was enough to make him laugh at how ridiculous it was. Him and Taura? Together? That's the dumbest notion ever! Don't get him wrong, Taura was the nicest and greatest friend he's ever had! Heck, she's the ONLY female friend he's ever had, since most of the females in the old pack were either as tough as nails and were twice his size or prissy little snobs who stayed in half peak taking care of cubs. Taura was neither of those, she was one of a kind! Her mischievous and playful character made her even more likable and he liked how she always presented him with a new challenge when they were bored: like who can catch the biggest dear or who can sprint the fastest to the top of a hill.
But the idea of him...and her...it was just absurd! Sure she was...attractive, by some standards...but she was his best friend! There was no way that the two would ever hook up, it would just end badly for the both of them anyway. "And she's totally not my type anyway..." Diego snorted mentally, as he thought of her weird quirks: the way she was able to eat an entire buffalo carcass, not with the best manners either, and still ask if there was more. Or the way she would snore very loudly for a moment before going back to slumber if she was sleeping very deeply from a hard day's work. And the fact that she was friends with those two annoying vermin made him question her sanity, especially since she actually plays with them and their stupid games!
But while he was listing all those traits, Diego couldn't help the little voice at the back of his head that stated "But still...all those things are what make up Taura! And you wouldn't have her any other way, would ya?" Diego started to smile wanly at how true that statement was, and decided to not bother arguing with it. Sure, Taura had her bad traits, but who didn't?
While Diego was thinking away, Sid mistook his smile as one of affection when he caught Diego glancing at Taura as he had his internal pondering, only making the sloth's smile seem even more smug as he waddled away while calling over his shoulder "Alright, stay in denial. But you don't know what you're missing!"
"Thanks for helping us push the log Taura!"
Once they left the icy lake, the landscape around the herd went back to it's original tundra: snow melting away to reveal lush grass and pine trees had grown back their green needles. While walking in between the two cliffs, the twins asked Taura to help them push a log up a hill. When Taura raised an eyebrow at them suspiciously, they reassured her that they weren't going to roll it at any poor victim and were simply going to go log-rolling. Taura, being the playful and energetic tigress that she was, felt the tips of her mouth turn upward into an excited smile at the prospect of joining in on a new game.
She helped them push a log up to the top of a cliff and then sat down and looked at them with a tilt of her head, her eyebrows still furrowed in confusion. The two possums understood her question and explained that the idea was to roll on the log for as long as you can without falling off until it reaches to a stop.
Taura felt her eyes widen in shock and realization, "So no wonder they wanted me to roll this up to the top of a very steep...and...very high...cliff..." She thought as she looked down towards the very steep roll with a shudder. Just looking at how high they were made a chill go down her spine and her claws to cling into the earth fearfully.
"So you wanna join us?" Eddie asked her eagerly as the two brothers got ready by placing both their paws on the log.
Taura politely declined their oh-so-very tempting offer with a shake of her head and padded away as fast as she could towards the male trio before the possums could drag her in anyways.
"Okay, you're missing out on a lot of fun!" Crash called out to her, before turning to his brother and asking him if he was ready to roll.
Taura quickly padded over until she was walking right next to Diego, who gave her a confused glance.
"Where have you been?" He asked Taura, but before she could reply, the four heard a loud banging and rolling sound to their left. They looked to the hill beside them to find the two possums being crushed by the log as it rolled with fast speeds down the hill. "uh...does that answer your question?" Taura chuckled as she shook her head at the brothers' antics. The possums' log finally camp to a stop when it crashed onto a dead tree, but then out of the blue, Ellie came crashing over their log AND the tree while still maintaining her balance on top of the log.
"No brakes, gotta roll!" Ellie called over her shoulder gleefully as she continued to roll over the hills "Meet you at the other end!"
The quartet stood there silently for a minute before Manny turned to Sid and awkwardly asked him slowly "So~...you think she's the girl for me?"
Sid nodded eagerly with a grin "Oh yeah, she's tons of fun and you're no fun at all. She completes you!"
Manny grunted at what Sid said with an unreadable expression before he continued forward with his trade-mark grumpy frown. Taura giggled a bit at how Sid put it before she followed after them. She caught sight of the hyper duo dizzily walking out of the log, before Crash caught sight of Manny and waved eagerly at him.
"Hey, hey Manny!" Crash called out to the mammoth as he climbed up the dead tree "Can you pull back the tree and shoot me into the pond?"
"No." Manny grunted without even looking and continued forward.
"Oh come on!" Crash whined with a pout from his position on the tree branch.
Sid waddled forward towards Manny an scolded "And how do you expect to impress Ellie with that attitude?"
Manny glared at the sloth irritably and defended himself "I don't want to impress her!"
Sid simply smirked smugly while placing his paws on his hips and argued "Then why are you trying so hard to convince her that she's a mammoth?"
Manny stopped in his steps and rolled his eyes exasperatedly before yelling "Because that's what she is!" he then continued with a much more calmed voice "I don't care if she thinks she's a possum, you can't be two things!"
"Au contraire my friend!" Sid retorted with the same smirk as he started to count off his fingers "Tell that to the bullfrog, the chicken-hawk or turtledove!"
Diego walked forward and snapped to Manny "He's never gonna give up on you. It'll be easier on all of us if you'll just GO with it."
Taura grinned encouragingly and nodded towards the possums. "I mean, come on! How bad can it be?" Taura scoffed in her head with an easygoing grin. Manny groaned annoyingly for a moment before turning to the playing possums on the branch.
"So uh...what do you want me to do?" Manny asked, with the same unsure look in his eyes.
Crash, with the same eager grin, climbed up to the top of the tree and pointed towards the distant pond with a grin. "Pull back the tree and shoot me into the pond!"
Manny raised an eyebrow skeptically "I don't know..."
Crash shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and leaned against the tree branch while checking his nails before replying "Well...if you're too lame to do it, we could get Ellie..."
Manny's eyes widened for a minute before he hurriedly replied "No, no, no, I can do it, I can do it!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Crash dropped his cool facade and wrapped his tail around the tree branch while leaning his body eagerly towards the destination. "Yeah, yeah ,yeah! Come on, come on!" He chanted eagerly with an excited grin.
Manny pulled back the branch with his trunk a good distance close to the ground before asking the possum with a worried voice "Have you done this before?"
"Hah! Only a million times!" Crash scoffed before leaning forwards again and telling Manny to go farther and farther. By now, Manny was pulling as hard as he could and bent the entire tree until the very top of the branch reached the floor. Taura glanced at the branch with a concerned frown, "This has 'accident' written all over it..."
"Perfect!" Crash grinned before pointing towards the sky and yelled out "FIRE!"
As soon as Manny let go, the entire tree lurched forward and shot the possum into the sky like a rocket! Taura stared with wide concerned eyes as Crash whizzed through the sky. He seemed to head towards the right direction...until he crashed into a tree trunk right next to the pond.
"AH! CRASH!" Eddie yelped with worry before running on all fours towards where his brother landed.
"Uh oh..." Manny and Sid shared an anxious glance before hurriedly running after the possum. After a fast and panicked run, the four managed to reach Crash, who was lying unconscious in his brother's arms.
"What happened?!" Ellie asked worriedly as she looked down at the two.
"Manny shot him out of a tree!" Eddie sniffed, clutching his brother close to him.
Ellie glared at said mammoth and snapped at him "What's wrong with you?!"
"He said he could do it!" Manny replied with defensive eyes.
"And you listened to him." Ellie snorted with a raised eyebrow. Manny simply stared at her for a moment before glancing down at the weeping possum.
"Crash, whatever you do, don't go into the light!" Eddie stammered while shaking his brother's shoulders with a panicked look.
"Can I help in anyway here...?" Manny asked nervously while walking forward voluntarily.
Ellie turned her head towards him for a moment with a scowl and huffed "You've done enough." before looking down again with worried eyes at her two brothers. Manny winced outwardly before walking away again.
"Are you happy now?" Manny sarcastically snapped at Sid, who didn't reply when the sound of Eddie's weeping came back again.
"Crash! Crash, don't leave me!" Eddie sniffed as he hugged his brother close to him, "Who's gonna watch my back? Who's gonna be my wing-man of mayhem?" Eddie finally let go of his brother and fell to his knees with a loud weep "Who's gonna roll in that dung patch with me?!"
"DUNG PATCH?!"
Everybody's eyes widened as they jolted in shock at Crash's sudden call. The used-to-be unconscious possum's head suddenly popped up at the name and he suddenly started to get up on his feet, Eddie standing up and starting to grin with shocked eyes.
"Wait...my legs, I can stand!" Crash yelled with glee as he pointed at his feet.
"He can stand!" Eddie repeated with a happy grin,
Crash then started to jog at one place and happily yelled out "I can run!"
"HE CAN RUN! IT'S A MIRACLE!" Eddie shouted out and spun his brother around with a bone-crushing hug while their sister yelled out with a beaming smile "HALLELUJAH!" before running into the forest together with cheerfull exclaims of 'whoohoo' and 'hurrays'.
Ellie was still laughing out loud until she noticed the four mammals who were giving her deadpanned looks. She then started to chuckle sheepishly "What can I say? They're boys! They make my life a little adventure!"
She continued to chuckle sheepishly as she walked away into the forest after her brothers until Taura heard her whisper harshly to her brothers "You guys are so dead!"
Whack!
Bam!
"NOT THE FACE!"
"Y'know what..." Taura started to grin "I like this girl!"
It was nearly sundown, and the area around them had random rows of willow trees that gave the landscape a surreal aura to it. Taura really like willow trees, especially night time! Because wherever there were willow trees, you can bet there would be fireflies, which made the forest seem even more beautiful! The herd would've continued forward, but the road ahead of them was littered with randomly thrown logs and tree trunks that were clogging up the path. Ellie and the possums had no problem continuing forward, since they were more agile and nimble (well, maybe Crash and Eddie, but Taura wasn't so sure about Ellie...). Manny however wasn't able to go through and had to throw away the logs one at a time, with a little useless help from Sid who weakly plucked out a few random twigs. Diego leaped onto a random log and followed Manny's nostalgic line of sight to where Ellie, Taura and the possums were playing around on the logs; the two possums randomly hopping and leaping from one branch to another while Ellie and Taura tried to catch them.
"She's not half bad." Diego piqued up. Manny turned around towards him, hitting Sid with the log at the same time. Diego managed to duck from the rotating trunk before continuing with a small smile "Crazy and confused, but sweet."
Manny huffed "So? You don't see me bugging you about Taura and it's the exact same thing!"
Diego's eyes widened for a moment but then quickly shook his head to cover his shock "It's not the same. Me and Taura go way back...she's like family to me. While you on the other hand might have a chance with her."
Manny glared at him irritably before huffing the same thing again and turning back around, whacking Sid up the head again "So?"
Diego ducked down and furrowed his brows at the stubborn mammoth with confusion "So, what's holding you back?"
Manny through the log away before muttering sadly "My family..."
Manny picked up another log with his trunk, only to find Sid popping out the top with a comforting smile "You can have that again y'know?"
Manny sagged a bit and grumbled exasperatedly "No Sid, I can't." before lurching the log to the side, making Sid yelp out in surprise and cling onto the trunk's edges.
"Okay okay!" Sid stammered before glaring weakly at Manny "B-b-b-but think about it, if you let this chance go, you're letting you're whole species go and that's just...that's just...Selfish!"
Manny glowered at the sloth with anger before throwing the log away with more power on purpose, before walking away again. Diego walked past the sloth who was stuck underneath the log with an amused smile while Sid muttered out optimistically "I think I'm starting to get through to him!"
"Slow poke!" Crash called out before running away into the forest with a cackling Eddie while being chasing by a giggling Taura. After a while of noticing that a certain pair of mammoths were absent, Diego and Sid looked back to find the two walking away into the willows. Diego and Sid both smiled at the two before walking after the playing trio.
When Eddie looked back to find Taura still hot on their heels, he looked to the side and found a large area of willow trees on their right.
"Over there! Quick!" Eddie called out to his brother, who looked back and followed after Eddie into the forest, Taura chasing after them with a confident grin. Diego looked worriedly at the dark forest and called out to the female saber:
"Make sure you'll be back before midnight!"
Taura heard Diego's call and replied mentally "Will do!" before focusing back on the chase. The trio just kept running and running and with each passing minute, Taura kept getting closer and closer until they could feel her warm panting breathe on their tails. She knew that she should probably just get them already, but that would cut the chase short and she wanted to let fun last as long as it could.
She was suddenly brought out of her thoughts when she felt a tree root hit against her paw, making her trip over her own feet and tumble over a few meters. Taura looked up to find the two possums mockingly pointing their fingers at her while cackling away on the tree branch; they were both dangling from their tails. Taura got up again quickly and glared at the two laughing away at her from their branch. After a while, the laughing started to die down and the two possums looked at her with confused expressions. They bother noticed Taura looking up, but not at them. She was glaring at the rising trunk of the willow tree with a heated glare, but somehow with a terrified shade in her eyes.
"So...?" Crash called out to her, making her start from her stupor as she glanced at them again. Eddie rolled his eyes in annoyance before huffing "Come on already! Why aren't you chasing us?"
Taura's eyes widened a bit before she took a few steps back and sat down, suddenly finding an interest at her paws. The two brothers looked at each other with worried expressions before they both hopped down from the tree and walked up towards her with confused smiles.
"Hey Taura?" Crash called her again, trying to catch her downcast and sheepish eyes. "Come on, what's the matter?"
Eddie added in while placing his paw on her own "Yeah, you can tell us!"
Taura stopped looking down at her paws and smiled gratefully at Eddie before looking forward at the previous willow tree. The two possums noticed her glances at the tree, before Crash decided to guess "What...you can't climb? I thought sabers were able to climb!"
Eddie felt his brows furrow in confusion before adding in "Yeah, Diego was able to climb up the tree when he met us!"
Taura shook her head at the two as if to say 'it's not that!' before looking down at the ground again with an annoyed frown. The two possums looked at each other again with the same confused looks, before they both began to ponder.
Crash's eyes suddenly widened in realization, "Hang on a minute..."
The two possums thought back to when Taura also didn't want to roll down the hill with them on the log, the way she stared fearfully at how steep the roll was and the way she stared fearfully at how high the crocodile was when it was on the rising edge of the ice chunk.
"Taura..." Eddie began while looking at her with wide eyes,
"Are you...afraid of heights?" Crash finished with equally wide eyes. When Taura stayed frozen stiff, they both knew what the answer was. The two possums looked at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter and rolling around on the floor.
"That's so stupid!" Crash guffawed as he hit his fist repeatedly on the ground.
"This just gives the meaning of 'fraidy cat a WHOLE new meaning!" Eddie chortled as tears of mirth rolled from his eyes.
The two continued to laugh at the poor female until they heard her growl threateningly. They both paused and looked up to find Taura bearing her fangs at them, making them both yelp in fear before bouncing away from her. She glared at them for a moment while gritting her teeth before snorting at them and walking away, a sulking air around her.
Crash and Eddie looked at each other with guilty expressions before running after Taura.
"Aw come on Taura!" Crash said, walking next to her on her left while Eddie was on her right. "We didn't mean it like that!"
"Yeah, we were just kidding around!" Eddie sheepishly said while scratching his neck awkwardly. Taura finally paused mid-step and smiled at the two as if to say 'no harm done'. Crash and Eddie both let out a sigh of relief before one of them curiously asked:
"So...you've seriously never climbed a tree before?" Crash asked her with a curious tilt of his head. Taura's grin shrunk a bit and took a more sheepish look before shaking her head. The two possums walked in front of her before looking at each other. Taura's smile left when she nervously stared at the two's growing mischievous smiles on their faces. The two finally looked up at her, both wearing shit-eating grins.
"Well then..." Eddie began while rubbing his hands together.
"We're gonna have to do something about that!" Crash snickered while cracking his knuckles. Taura started to back away slowly while giving the two nervous looks.
"Oh dear, what did I get myself into..."