Akira soon departed from where Diego had left her. She wiped a few tears from her eyes that had been there since she denied Diego's request to go with him. She hadn't let them fall simply because she had hope that she'd see him again. The same maybe could be the same for Diego alongside the fact that he was a male tiger with ungodly amounts of pride and he was a fierce predator that didn't cry. She had snorted to herself as the thought crossed her mind. As if he had much dignity left with the things Sid and Percy coerced him into doing. Although. . . none of that mattered anymore.

Akira was now walking back, memories of her pack resurfacing. She hadn't thought of them in over a year much to her own guilt. A lump formed in her throat and took residence as she felt nothing short of despairing as she went in search of Sid.

The land was delicately coated with freshly fallen snow, towering mountains standing erect from the ground tipped with the white spread. In the midst of the tallest was an earthy ledge frozen, the mouth of a twisting and turning cave that led into complex chambers deep in the mountains remained hidden from those that were clueless to its existence. A large muscular sabre with a magnificent white pelt strolled inside. The cave was warm despite the chilling cold of the outside air.

The Alpha of Nix, the largest and well-known sabre pack in the North, stared down at his chosen mate and the cubs she had successfully birthed weeks ago. There were three in total. Two of them were dark gray in colour with black streaks. Their pelts were similar to his mate, Calora's, who had also predicted such before the cubs had even been born. Their only physical trait in relation to his were their eyes: molten silver.

The third one, the second youngest and smallest was, instead of a dark gray like Calora, a sleek silvery-white that appeared to glisten when the light hit it right. This cub's eyes were a striking green like Calora's and were charming and sweet from the words of his mate. She wasn't easily pushed aside by her siblings but she wasn't forceful either. Argentis, they would go on to call her before her name developed into something else, Akira, as the sabress better preferred once she grew older.

The Oldest Elder, Sapientia, described the juvenile cub of the highest-ranked family to be bright and intelligent—constantly driven by her sheer curiosity. Sapientia was the first to refer to her as Akira, speaking of how the name meant brilliance. No one questioned the Elder's renaming but the sabress soon responded to Akira and nothing else and so over the years. Only her parents called her Argentis.

Akira tried to ignore the pain in her chest from the memories. She didn't need them—they would be no good now. Her pack wasn't there anymore—the mountains were no longer safe. Akira prayed for a distraction and her wish, oddly enough, was granted but it was exceptionally. . . strange. She found Sid. . . running around with. . , "Dinosaurs!?"

Everything halted and slowly, the three odd-looking creatures turned to look at her before ducking behind Sid, crooning fearfully. "Akira! Come meet my kids!"

He was so excited he was stumbling over his own feet as he moved out of the way to give a clear view of the timid hatchlings. "Sid. . . those are dinosaurs."

The sloth nodded, "And also my kids."

Akira blinked. Somehow, after all this time with him, Sid could still surprise her in the worst ways and leave her speechless. It was Sid for crying out loud. She shouldn't be surprised. The sloth was trouble reincarnated. "Come," He stumbled forward and pulled on her paw, "As a single mother, I need all the help I can get." The sabress huffed, questioning what she was getting herself into as she bent under Sid's pleas.

Akira found herself sitting on an island rock as the baby dinosaurs played happily in the water. Sid was standing on the shore, one of the three babies bounding up to him. "'Kira, like this?" The sabress glanced over at the sloth and did a double-take as she saw the sloth scrubbing the dinosaur with something furry.

"No, Sid. I don't know what that is but you might want to put it down before you scar it."

The sloth complied and the dripping ball of fur was dropped, unfolding to reveal a baby beaver.

"Sorry, hun!" Akira called out as the little guy scrambled away, understandably frightened. "Sid, be more attentive."

The sloth frowned before nodding, looking as determined as he could get. Akira rested in the shallow cave as Sid played with his "kids". The sabress had avoided telling the sloth to bring the three back after he told her he'd found them abandoned in an icy cave. She didn't want to risk taking them back for if they were abandoned, they would most likely freeze or starve if not both. She'd help Sid look after them until her help wasn't needed or momma came and found them.

Akira couldn't help the sinking feeling that momma would be a little bigger with way more teeth. That was a bridge to cross when they got there, however, momma wasn't guaranteed. Sid and the hatchlings were playing with a ball but the sbaress, lazily watching, perked up as she noticed how it twitched every so often. Her suspicions that maybe it was alive were confirmed when it suddenly unfolded to reveal a sabre-toothed squirrel, screaming bloody murder as the hatchlings tackled Sid. One of them got side-tracked, chasing the little rodent around the cave and Akira caught it by the tail, nuzzling the hatchling and redirecting it toward Sid and her brothers.

"Sorry, sweetie but this little guy would give you indigestion." The little dinosaur whined but ran off to Sid.

Akira looked down at the squirrel, recognizing it from a few months ago. Scrat was chittering angrily, evidently offended by her words. "She didn't eat you now, did she?" Scrat stopped mid-rant, huffing as he considered the fact that she was right. "That's what I thought. Now, stay out of trouble." The squirrel nodded, puffing out his chest with a salute before bounding off.

Two days had passed.

The first, Diego had left the herd and Sid became a mother of three.

The second. . . well, it was an absolute disaster.

Akira had taken a break from the herd, something that would prove to be a disastrous mistake. She was satiating her hunger, gnawing lazily on the cleaned leg bone of her latest kill, Percy resting beside her when there was a tremble. It caught her attention quickly because nothing was heavy enough much less strong enough to cause a heavy tremor. Her fears from day one were confirmed when she saw a familiar scaly muzzle rise above the crown of the forest. It kept rising until she had a clear view of a reptilian head: the head of a dinosaur. Momma dinosaur. Akira had woken up Percy and sent him back to their cave with the remaining kill before bolting in the direction of the herd.

There was a deep, dominating roar that made every mammal's fur stand on end as Akira neared the village and she pushed herself to go faster, hoping Sid was sensible enough to hand over the hatchlings.

He wasn't.

She skidded into the clearing where it was absolute chaos; loud chaos. Mammals were running around like headless birds, screaming in panic and fear. Momma Dino was focused on a rock slab metres off the ground and she instantly knew why. Sid's familiar shrill scream, as well as the hatchlings' cries, were coming from underneath the rock.

"Akira! Talk some sense into him!" She heard Manny yell and huffed as she leaped in front of the distraught hatchlings and Sid just as Momma Dino ripped off the rock slab.

There would be no talking. There was no way Sid was leaving those hatchlings and knowing this, Akira understood she could only do her best to protect the sloth against the much, much larger predator.

Akira let out a thundering roar and the reptile before her faltered, looking down at her with what could only be seen as confusion. She was at her wit's end in fear and was fully expecting to die when the dinosaur leaned down, mouth wide but she simply felt her tail being latched gently between teeth before she was dangling upside down several feet above the ground. If possible, Sid's scream grew louder and in response, so did the hatchlings.

"Sid! Akira!" She managed to twist her head to find Manny, Ellie and the possums before her world lurched with Momma Dino's turn. They were heading away from the village. Far away.

Manny, Ellie and the possums halted at the beginning of a deep, gaping cavern.

"Sid and Akira must be down there," Manny said, his tone foreboding.

"Well, he's dead," Eddie said, peeking over the small ledge.

"Real shame." Crash continued.

"He will be missed." Eddie agreed.

The two turned tail, ready to clamber back to the safety of the surface when they were restrained by Ellie. "Oh, no, no, no. Not so fast. Sid is family and Akira was taken too. All things be damned if we just let them die."

Manny glanced down the cavern before looking back at his mate, "Okay, Ellie, this is where I draw the line. You, Crash and Eddie, back to the village."

Ellie turned to Manny, disbelieving. "Yeah, that's gonna happen."

The male was lost to his wife's defiance. "Ellie, you saw that thing! This is gonna be dangerous!"

He groaned as the shemmoth walked ahead, "Talk to the trunk."

"Great. After we save Sid, I'm gonna kill him."

Akira would be excused. She was only trying to protect Sid as the sloth wouldn't back down. The sabress could do no wrong—not when they had the possums and Sid in their herd.