The next day...
By early morning, the storm had passed. The sun rose over the northern mountains which cast a shadow over the land, gradually revealing the vast taiga that was blanketed in pure white, with each tree covered in a thick layer of snow.
Under a cluster of trees growing beneath a cliff edge near the waterfall, a small herd of saiga antelopes was stirring. Huddled together for warmth, some of them rose, shook the snowflakes off their bodies, and yawned, before pushing through the dense snow for their morning drink.
Not an easy task for such small animals and even these hardy creatures knew that they had to follow the other migrants down south quickly, as the latest and rather lengthy blizzard was still just a taste of things to come. Always vigilant, the saigas kept an eye out for predators, not that many would be left this far north at this point, but they knew that Arctic wolves were still lurking in this forest, as was at least one giant hyena.
Sure enough, they heard some rustling. But instead of a prowling carnivore, they heard the heavy footsteps of something much larger. Squinting in the dim light, they made out a large, dark brown shape emerging from the forest, sporting an impressive pair of tusks that shoved a spruce tree out of the way, causing all of the snow to pour down from it, and his collum-like legs easily plowed through the snow.
It was quite odd to see a mammoth traveling alone, and the saigas hadn't expected any to still stick around this far north. Casually, the woolly giant plodded along the shore of the lake and towards them. Stopping a few yards away, he dipped his trunk into the lake before spraying the water into his mouth.
"Good morning, friend." he said to the nearest saiga, hoping he didn't come off as too imposing or demanding. He knew he wasn't the most congenial or approachable mammoth.
"I don't wish to be a bother, but could I ask you a question?"
The saigas exchanged glances but saw no problem with it. "Sure. You traveling south too?" the first one replied, his voice nasally.
"Yup, but unfortunately, I didn't get going while the going was good." Manny tried to joke. "Now I had to sit through far too many delays."
The saigas chuckled in agreement, saying how they knew the feeling. Manny smiled but he was anxious to learn what they knew as fast as possible, yet he didn't know how to phrase it.
The herd was surprised to see a ground sloth appear by Manny's side. Sid tried to scoop up some water in his paw but immediately jerked back and shook it, before trying to warm it with his breath. The water was so cold, it felt like his paw had been impaled by a million tiny needles.
"Is he with you?"
"Sure I am." Sid answered with a big smile, as if this was the most normal thing in the world.
"What? It's the ice age." Manny shrugged. "Everyone's uniting for a common goal...getting out of this freezing hellhole."
"Guess that's true, though I've never seen a mammoth traveling with a sloth." One of the saigas said. "Are you two lost?"
"Nah, Manny knows exactly where we're going." Sid waved his paw. "Actually, we were wondering if you've seen our fr-ghphh!"
"Try this, Sid. It's your favorite." Manny cut him off by shoving a pinecone into his mouth. The saigas blinked.
"Yeah, like he said...we're not lost. I've traveled south many times." Manny quickly stated. "We just wanted to know if you guys had, by any chance, seen any dangers in the area, like...I dunno, some tigers?"
The saigas gave him odd looks. Manny knew he needed to elaborate, and gladly did so before Sid could open his yap.
"Umm...I just want to make sure my little pal is safe." he looked over at Sid, who pried the pinecone out of his mouth and gave him a glare. "Plus, a starving pack of tigers might even be bold enough to take me on."
Some of the saigas visibly shuddered at the thought of a pack of sabretooths being in the area, while the first one said. "Huh...funny you should ask? Stan saw one fall over that waterfall, didn't you?"
"Yes, the day before yesterday."
Manny and Sid widened their eyes, and the former gave the latter a warning glare, silently telling him to keep quiet. Obviously, Sid didn't get the memo.
"Over the waterfall?" the sloth blurted. "...did...did he make it?"
Manny scowled, but fortunately, the saigas seemed to confuse Sid's worry for a mere surprise.
"Unfortunately, he did." Stan scoffed. "Wretched beast is tough. I saw him swim back to shore...but he seemed to be in pretty bad shape. No surprise, as the damn meat-eater took a dip in freezing water."
"Yeah...he probably froze to death somewhere in the forest." the other saiga elbowed his herd mate and they shared a laugh. "Good riddance I say."
Keeping his expression neutral, Manny studied them and before an indignant Sid could say anything, the mammoth forced a smile.
"Yeah...eh...good riddance." he agreed, much to Sid's surprise.
"I'm sure that mangy cat won't be a problem to anyone ever again. Other than that, we just saw some wolves and one rogue hyena. Nothing a big fella like you oughta worry about. Any other predators must be miles down south by now."
"Thanks a lot. Well...it's been nice chatting with you guys but Sid and I can't waste the clear weather. Let's go, Sid."
"Safe travels, friend."
"But, Mann-"
"You too." Manny gave the saigas a curt nod and urged Sid to follow. "C'mon, Sid."
Sid followed his friend into the forest, staying behind the mammoth and walking through the trail Manny's bulk had carved through the snow.
"Manny...why were you acting so...weird back there? You know I don't like pinecones!"
"Because we couldn't just tell those antelopes we're friends with a tiger." Manny said bluntly, looking back at Sid.
"Why not?" Sid asked, causing Manny to massage his forehead with his trunk. "I mean...I know it's a bit weird and all...but..."
"We have to find Diego as fast as possible, and we can't get sidetracked by folks thinking we're crazy, or just pulling their leg." Manny tried to explain. "We have to find him before he freezes to death."
Manny's words hit Sid hard and he came to a terrifying realization. "Wait...we lost Diego nearly two days ago..." Sid felt his blood freezing and grew a worried look "...Manny, you don't...you don't think..."
Manny looked away, sharing the same sentiment. He was cognizant of the possibility, but he was also stubborn. He would not write off his friend as dead unless he saw a body with his own two eyes, and he was going to search the whole forest if he had to.
He heard a despondent Sid muttering to himself. "Aww...this is all my fault!" he lamented and looked at his flabby gut.
"Why do you have to feel hunger? Stupid stomach, stupid hunger!" he punched it with all his might, and unsurprisingly, huffed in pain and fell to his knees.
"That was a bad idea." the sloth said in a reedy voice while clutching his gut.
"Stop goofing around. It... wasn't your fault, it was just bad luck...and Diego's tough." Manny tried to reassure him. "If he could survive Soto's attack, a little cold water won't do him in...at least I hope so." he added mentally.
But that was enough to raise the ever-naive Sid's hopes and got back to his feet, rubbing his aching stomach. "You're right! He probably found someplace to weather out the storm and is eagerly awaiting our big reunion!"
"He probably is. Just...ehh...remember that Diego's not a hugger." Manny replied, trying to be optimistic, even if this wasn't in his nature.
"I know...but about what you said at the lake?"
Manny rolled his eyes. "You heard what those antelopes thought."
Sid frowned a bit. "Yeah...that wasn't very nice."
"Sid, you can't fault them for hating something that would be all too happy to eat them." Manny tried to explain, while the trees around them cleared, revealing an open field dotted with reindeer and with a small creek cutting through it.
"I know Diego only does that to survive but...well...would you feel sympathy for someone while watching them maul another sloth?"
Sid paused and started to understand. "Guess I wouldn't..." he sighed before hearing panicked bleating.
Manny grew alert as he watched the reindeer run and fan out. Amid the sea of light gray, he spotted a brown and striped figure leap out of the forest. It was as big as the reindeer and cut through the herd before zeroing in on a single one and running parallel to it.
Yelping, Sid clung onto Manny's leg as the predator chased the reindeer onto a small ridge, clenched its large jaws around its neck and the two fell over and out of sight, but both Manny and Sid could hear the struggle until the reindeer went silent.
"Manny...it's a hhh...h-hyena..." Sid stammered and hid behind Manny's rump as they saw the hyena rise up, hoisting up the reindeer by its neck.
Manny raised his brow and watched the hyena carefully. The predator seemed to notice him in the distance and they briefly locked eyes before the hyena turned around and dragged its kill into the woods.
"Must be the hyena who left those tracks in the gorge? Hmmm...I see no pack? Seems those antelopes were right, it's just a lone wanderer..." Manny mused. He hoped for Diego's sake that was true.
"M-manny?"
"Don't get your tail in a twist, Sid." Manny said curtly and started walking away. "It's just one hyena. Stick close to me and he won't bother us."
"Right, right...we gotta find Diego." Sid waddled after him, clutching his paws together as he took one final glance to make sure the hyena was truly gone.
Audrey wasted no time dragging her kill back to the cave. It was a good catch, not too small but also not too heavy to carry. She had left the cave while Diego was still asleep and was glad she wasn't coming back empty-handed.
She would probably have to make a few more kills before her unexpected travel companion was well enough for the "travel" part of their deal. The reindeer were plentiful here and didn't seem to be in any hurry to move south, which was good news for the two of them.
As she drew closer to the cave, however, she heard canine-like whining. Dropping the reindeer, she sniffed the air and picked up the scent of wolves.
Meanwhile, inside the small cave, Diego was sleeping soundly. He was unaware that five Arctic wolves had gathered around the entrance. They could smell the tiger and the lead wolf even stuck his head into the cave for a better look. The other four gathered around him.
Audrey appeared on a ridge and barred her teeth at them. With a vicious snarl, she ran up the hill, forcing the smaller wolves to scatter, snapping her jaws at one of them while blocking the entrance to the cave. It worked, as the white-furred canines vanished, yelping and whimpering.
The noise made Diego stir, while Audrey rushed back to pick up her kill. Opening his green eyes, he looked around, still groggy, and rose to his feet before yawning and stretching himself.
He heard something walking toward the cave, and upon seeing a hyena, instinctively, Diego growled loudly and raised his hackles. Audrey yelped and jumped back, dropping her kill.
Remembering who she was, Diego calmed himself and retracted his claws.
"Sorry...old habits." he said in a coarse voice and resumed stretching himself as if nothing happened. His body still felt sore and his scarred flank ached.
Dragging in the reindeer and dropping it, Audrey cleared her throat, trying to start a conversation.
"Umm...good morning. How are you feeling?"
"Terrible." was Diego's blunt response before he sniffed and wiped his nose. "I don't suppose you brought any good news?" he asked dryly.
"I caught breakfast."
Diego glanced at her kill, unimpressed. "You found it dead?"
Audrey scowled a bit. "I caught it, there's a big herd of them out there."
With a skeptical look, Diego moved over and pressed his paw on the reindeer. He was surprised to find that it was still soft, not stiff and frozen, as you would expect from an animal that was claimed by the blizzard.
Audrey stifled a frustrated sigh. What was his deal? Did he think she was incapable of hunting?
Trying not to sneer, Diego just said, "Okay...so you did. How's the weather?"
"Did you know that wolves were skulking around the cave?" Audrey asked him.
"Wolves?" he looked back. "What would they have been looking for?"
Audrey knew it wasn't her last kill. She had found it picked clean this morning. No points for guessing who did it.
"I think they sensed that you were in... poor shape?" the hyena answered but Diego snorted at the ridiculous insinuation.
"And you chased them away without inviting me?" he scoffed as he walked out. "I could have used the exercise. Those mutts must have had a death wish."
Audrey didn't agree with him but said nothing. She didn't take the idea of getting ambushed by a pack of wolves while asleep and severely injured lightly.
Diego, meanwhile, widened his eyes as he saw that the blizzard had passed and the clouds had parted enough to show some of the morning sky, yellow and orange transitioning into blue. The cave they were in was on top of a small hill, overseeing the taiga, with the mountains he and his friends had recently passed through visible in the distance.
"Finally." he thought and turned to Audrey.
"Take your share of the kill and be quick about it." he told her as he approached the reindeer.
"What? You want us to leave?" Audrey asked in disbelief. "Now?"
"Yes, now."
"But...you barely had any time to recover."
The tiger turned to her with an annoyed look. "The weather won't cut us any slack just because I'm a little roughed up and..." he sniffed "...have a cold. You saw how long the last blizzard lasted, and you and I both know things won't get any better from here."
Audrey considered it. He was right, time was of the essence. At this rate, the weather would only get worse, and it was sensible to cover as much ground as possible while they had the chance.
"You're sure you can travel? I don't mind waiting a bit longer."
"I'll be fine..." Diego said in a muffled voice as he tried to tear off one of the reindeer's back legs, but even after digging his sabers into its thigh, he had a hard time dislodging the femur.
Watching him struggle for a few minutes and eventually let go to catch his breath, Audrey offered a helpful smile. "Let me do it. One haunch is good enough for me. You can have the rest, you need it more."
Diego rolled his eyes but let her do it. The sooner they embarked on their journey the better.
His face dropped as he saw Audrey effortlessly tear the leg off, leaving behind a broken piece of bone sticking from the rear. With a full mouth, she nodded at the dumbfounded feline and left him to eat by himself.
Diego tried to register what he had seen. "Kay...I am not feeling emasculated. I. Am. NOT." he told himself as he hunkered down to eat.
It still felt wrong to have to rely on someone else for sustenance. It was shameful and pitiful. But his gnawing hunger overruled his stubborn pride. Just this once and then he could go back to being self-reliant like a proper sabretooth.
Diego was standing by the mouth of the cave, looking over his surroundings. The sky was blue and the white clouds were moving, while a gentle breeze blew through his fur.
He knew he had to start moving, but a small part of him was still hoping that Manny and Sid would stumble upon him. It would be hard to explain things to the hyena, and maybe she would walk out on him in disgust, thinking he was a mad beast and not wanting to have a mad beast be indebted to her. He could live with that.
But luck was not on his side and with a heavy sigh, he turned back to the cave. "What's taking her so long?" he thought irritably.
Entering the cave, he found Audrey lying near the makeshift bed she had made for him, grooming herself. She seemed completely oblivious to Diego's presence as he got closer.
"Hyenas groom themselves?" the tiger thought incredulously before glowering and saying, "What are you doing?"
Audrey jolted in surprise. "...just grooming myself." she answered.
"I've been waiting for like two hours." Diego said with growing annoyance before noticing something else. All the reindeer and saiga bones had been neatly stacked on the flat rock in the corner, with the skulls on top, almost like a display.
"What's that?" his brow fell.
"I tidied up the cave before we left."
Diego kept his unamused look. "You mean the cave that will be swallowed up by the advancing glaciers and be uninhabitable for a couple of millennia?" he deadpanned. "How considerate of you."
Audrey glanced aside with a sheepish look. "Sorry, I sometimes get carried away with cleaning."
"You're a freaking hyena." Diego thought but knew that pointing that out would be a gargantuan waste of time.
"Look, Ashely. You can make yourself all prim and pretty once we're a few hundred miles down south. Sound like a solid plan? Good." he told her and walked ahead. "Come on."
"Ashley?"
Diego stopped and exhaled. "What?"
"I told you, my name's Audrey." the hyena sounded hurt.
"Touchy much?" Diego rolled his eyes and tried to dismiss it. "We just met, hyena. I doubt you remember mine either."
"Your name's Diego. You said you left your pack with your two friends, and got separated when you were attacked by a bear-"
"Look, Audrey." Diego said in a firm tone. "The sooner we find your pack, the sooner you won't have to deal with me. I'm trying to cooperate here. Whining over little things won't get us anywhere, and in case you've forgotten-"
He sniffed and sneezed out some mucus. "My nose is a little clogged up, so it's up to you to do the tracking. Which won't be an easy task if we get caught in another stinkin' blizzard."
The hyena faltered. "Alright...if you feel tired, don't hesitate to tell me. We can always take a break."
"I won't get tired." Diego turned around and walked out. "Get moving, we're wasting time."
Audrey sighed. She knew she was being stupid. The tiger and her weren't friends, just reluctant allies. He obviously had a sense of honor despite his rough demeanor, but he was also eager to get rid of her as soon as he paid his debt. She should count herself lucky that he was willing to even do that much.
So she followed Diego out of the cave. She saw him walking a bit stiffly but he kept on going, watching the midday sun. Audrey followed him, knowing that she would probably have to take the lead.
Diego couldn't have known that if he had waited just a bit longer, things would have turned out differently. A few hours after he and Audrey left, two familiar faces walked by the cave.
Manny kept his eyes peeled when he, at long last, picked up a familiar scent and raised his trunk to get a better whiff. His eyes shifted towards the small hill and he noticed a cave there.
"Manny, what's wrong?" Sid asked after seeing the mammoth halt in his tracks.
Manny didn't answer immediately and instead inspected the snow-covered ground. Sure enough, there were visible pawprints, though it wasn't one trackway but two.
"I think Diego was here?" he answered.
"He is?" Sid was overjoyed and looked around. Upon seeing the cave, he squeaked with joy and ran up the hill.
"Diego, buddy! We've-" he tripped on a rock and faceplanted into the snow but got up and resumed running "-missed ya so much!"
"Wait, Sid?" Manny said but the sloth had already rushed into the cave. Groaning, Manny looked around again and saw a long skid mark on the other side of the hill, but it was flanked on both sides by pawprints, their orientation indicating that their owner was heading towards the cave.
Sniffing at it with his trunk, Many picked up another scent. Confused, he turned around and inspected the two trackways leading away from the cave. Both shoved pawprints, but one had visible claws, the other larger pads. Manny figured the latter were feline in nature while the former looked identical to the ones they saw in the gorge.
Just then, Sid walked out of the cave, sporting a shell-shocked expression.
"There was no one there, right?" Manny sighed. Sid just nodded, not even blinking.
"And...you found something dead inside?" Manny figured.
"Something like that..." Sid said in a hollow tone as he slowly walked down the hill and approached Manny.
Manny didn't care for the gory details. "I have good news, Diego definitely was here. But so was a hyena it seems. Maybe the same one we saw earlier."
"Wait? Was here?" Sid shook himself back to his senses and frowned. "Shoot!" he plopped down on his butt and rested his hand on his paws. "Just our luck. Where do you think he went?"
"Where else... south." Manny gestured with his head as the two trackways leading away from the cave. "And I think the hyena went the same way."
Sid scratched his head and watched the two trackways. "Weird? Looks like they were traveling side by side."
Manny thought about it. Recalling seeing the hyena catch a reindeer not too long ago, he imagined a potential scenario, where the hyena dragged their kill here, heard a fierce roar, and ran away as a tiger leaped onto the scene and took possession of the kill.
"Unlikely, they just headed in the same direction but probably hours apart." Manny deduced. "I think Diego came and stole the hyena's kill."
"Stole?" Despite the gory imagery, Sid couldn't help but laugh. "Pfftt...that's ridiculous, Manny. Diego would never do that, he always brags about being such a mighty hunter, not a wimpy scavenger."
"Sid, you know he was just showboating. And desperate animals will do desperate things." Manny pointed out. "Diego's not in great shape, so he wouldn't miss out on an easy meal."
Sid realized that Manny was probably right. He himself was no stranger to...embellishing his skills and accomplishments when talking to other sloths, especially of the female persuasion.
"But more importantly, it means Diego is alive and well enough to walk on his own four feet." the mammoth elaborated.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Sid stood up with renewed determination. "Let's find him."
Manny smiled. "For once, you're right."
And so the odd couple headed south, hoping that along the way, they would find their carnivorous companion.