"Percy, Peaches, we need to go." Ellie insisted, feeling the sorrow and worry the kids were ridden with as they watched half of their family float helplessly away on a block of ice. The mother and aunt of the remaining sabre and mammoth knew there was nothing they could possibly do other than survive to the best of their abilities and make it to the land bridge as Manny and Akira had asked.
"This is all my fault," Peaches began, Percy silent.
Ellie frowned as she realized both mammals blamed themselves. "Hey, this is no one's fault. We'll see them again—Akira and Manny are the toughest mammals I've ever met and Manny's as stubborn as they get. They'll come back to us—that's a promise." Ellie nudged both kids with her trunk in reassurance, pushing them along the path as she spared the water a longing glance, the block of ice now nothing more than a speck. "Come back." She whispered under her breath before she joined the kids, her mind racing with not only the fate of her herd but the fate of the mammals in their community.
She'd need to gather everyone she could find and direct them to the land bridge and only hope that most were okay, her brothers included. She hadn't seen them since early morning but knowing Crash and Eddie, they were alright. They had survived too much to be taken by a landslide—they all had. Gathering the other mammals though. . . that would be a more difficult feat as every four and two-legged creature ran around as if their heads weren't attached, panicking. Those that weren't running around in their panic had buried parts and wholes of themselves in the unstable earth.
It was a rather hopeless situation but Ellie hadn't gotten this far in life by giving up and walking away. She blew a deafening tune with her trunk, halting the panic in its tracks as well as every mammal. "Everyone, please, settle down." Horror was still written across all expressions peering up at her but Ellie kept her voice calm and reassuring. "There's no need to panic. Everything will be alright, everyone will be fine once we make it to the land bridge." She made an aborted gesture to the flat terrain most of the mammals, herself included, had ignored in favour of the home they'd once been satisfied with. "We have to get moving now, we don't have much time."
A hoglet stepped forward, wide blue eyes looking up at Ellie. "Will we have to leave everything behind? Our home?"
The mammoth's eyes softened as she reached out with her trunk, caressing the hoglet's chin, smiling warmly as he leaned into the soft touch. "All we'll have is our friends and family but it'll be okay. They're our home. We can make new ones to live in, wherever we go, sweetie." The young molehog seemed satisfied with that, a bit of the fear dissipating as he gave her trunk a gentle pat before rushing over to his mother who swept him up in her arms, giving Ellie a thankful smile.
As the mammoth returned it, she ushered the mammals along with reassuring words, noticing moments later Peaches' twisted expression. "Peaches?"
"Louis—I don't know where he is. Mom, we have to find him."
Ellie frowned minutely but acquiesced. Louis was great friends with the kids and she'd be damned if they experienced loss so early in their lives, loss that she had a chance to prevent. "Okay, fast."
Akira hadn't ever thought she'd experience bouts of seasickness but here she was, hacking over the side of their small, makeshift ship as Manny did his best to redirect it against the currents. "Come on! Help me turn this thing around!"
The pregnant sabress collapsed on the cool ice with a groan, grimacing at the bad taste left in her mouth as she spared the mammoth a glance. "Manny, we can't go against the current. Not like this and not with that." She said, tiredly gesturing a paw to the log in his trunk. Diego had tried his paw at paddling for he was as desperate as Manny was but he too soon realized what Akira had pointed out. It was useless.
"They need me! We got to get back." He spared Akira a glance, "And you need land. You can't have the cubs at sea."
The sabress nodded in mild agreement. "No, but if we've got any sliver of luck on or side, I'll be fine for the next day or so." Sid had been examining the bit of forest they'd taken with them on their chunk of ice, a twig in his hand his apparent paddle, but as they ceased trying to go against the current, the sloth hobbled over to them. "You know, my mother once told me that bad news was just good news in disguise."
Diego hid his annoyance that spiked in his stress, once again humouring the sloth, "Was this before she abandoned you?"
Akira wasn't exactly sure how any of this would result in good news but she entertained it. "Well, she isn't exactly wrong. I mean out of all our other adventures, there's always been something good amidst all the chaos."
Sid looked briefly at Diego, smug. "Exactly." His gaze shifted to Akira, a grin on his face, "That's the spirit. So, even if we run into mammal-eating sea creatures or giant reptiles or barmy, old pirates, we've got something to look forward to. You know, like sea cubs." Akira smiled, partially amused by the prospect and partially worried sick. Sea cubs, as funny as it sounded, weren't exactly ideal. Food was a hopeful thought and comfort was now a luxury they might not be able to afford. She'd have taken the underground world of fossilized reptiles if given the choice.
"The point being that even though things look bad, there's a rainbow around every corner." Sid tried to look as motivating as ever but a cruel flash of lightning ruined all chances of that, Mother Nature ruthless in her timing as she framed the background behind the sloth with a severe-looking thunderstorm. "And nothing but smooth sailing ahead!" Sid finished just as thunder rumbled so deeply, their boat trembled.
"Smooth sailing, sid?" Manny asked, eyes wide as he glanced at the storm before advancing on the most at-risk mammal. Mammoth and sabre didn't hesitate as they begin ushering Akira to the cluster of trees that had come away with them on their float.
"This'll provide some cover. We need something to keep you warm—" Manny was stripping branches off one of the trees with softer leaves when Sid cleared his throat, his claw pointing to a hollowed trunk of a tree big enough for Akira to fit inside.
"'Kira could squeeze in here and we could use the leaves to keep most of the rain out."
As the boys gave the sloth a surprised look, the sabress padded over to Sid, an impressed smile lighting up her face as she nuzzled him in praise. "Good idea, Sid." The sloth grinned widely, proud.
Percy kept his expression indifferent, allowing some worry for their small, furry friend to bleed through as he called for Louis. Eddie and Crash flanked him, Peaches and Ellie ahead as they lead the search. He couldn't shake the almost crippling sense of loss that had overtaken him the moment Akira had become nothing but a speck against the deep blue of the ocean, Diego an orange dot right next to her. Followed by the horrifying thought of never seeing his adoptive parents again, the reminder that Manny and Sid were with them shattered the already broken pieces in his chest. The sabre didn't want to consider the possibility that he'd never see them again because that simply couldn't happen.
He'd be lost without Akira, dead without her even. If she hadn't saved his life all those years ago, simply out of the kindness of her heart, he would have never made it. And back then, the sabress had been heavily injured, one of her legs out of commission. Akira was strong and she was determined, traits that had made her survive a tumble from a cliff, the flashflood that followed and a prehistoric adventure years later but. . . the odds weren't in any of their favours this time around. She was pregnant and at a major physical disadvantage, which they couldn't afford. It put her life at risk and lessened the chances that she would be able to keep her promise.
Such a truth weighed heavily on his shoulders but Percy had little time to dwell on it as they stumbled into the Falls, the teenage hangout deserted. Well, mostly. They had found Louis, unfortunately at the top of the Falls Peaches had tumbled from earlier but unlike then, a towering rock wall was slowly inching forward, pushed by the small earthquakes, forcing the inevitable fall Louis would have to take. "Louis, you have to jump." Peaches bellowed, her worry and fear for Louis tangible. "No! Go, save yourselves."
Percy's eyes nearly rolled out of their sockets. "Louis, we're not leaving you! Jump!"
Had it not been for his more sensitive ears, he would've missed the molehog's muttered words as the other herbivores and omnivores did. "Oh, thank goodness."
The sabre bit back a snort, his worry and grief a background buzz for the briefest moment. "Jump!" Peaches' prompt was the final push Louis needed, the molehog inhaling a deep, steadying breath before he leapt, an avalanche of ice and snow descending close behind.
"This is why I travel underground!" Louis cried as he approached them fast, just barely out-sliding the torrent.
He hit a dead-end ice slide where the ice had crumbled and was sent launching through the air, his screams trailing after him until they stopped abruptly. Percy had leapt up, remembering his lessons of agility with Akira, and snatched the molehog out of the air before he could have an unpleasant collision with the hard, unforgiving ground. With Louis in his jaws, Percy set him down just for the molehog to scramble up his leg, settling on his back with no encouragements. Wasting no time, the mammals rushed out of the enclosed space as the mass of ice and snow filled the space, leaving no room for life to have a chance at survival.
The group soon slowed once the immediate danger was gone, Ellie falling back to walk beside Percy. She briefly scratched behind his ears, her trunk drifting over to Louis to pet his head affectionately. "Thanks for coming back," Louis said as he leaned into the brief touch, a warm smile on his face.
Percy huffed, muttering 'whipped' under his breath but brushed his flank against Peaches' towering form nonetheless, glancing over his shoulder at his smaller friend. "What do you mean?"
"You don't leave a friend behind," Peaches finished. Louis glanced between the two of them with a grin before he settled on Percy's back, curling up with a tiny smile.
The sea was unforgiving as the mammals weathered the storm on their frozen platform. Waves crashed roughly into the ice, raising it high before it sent it hurtling down. The wind thrashed brutally at the trees and mammals, Sid barely managing to avoid a wayward bush as it was uprooted, certainly failing to avoid a stick, the branch whipping him in the face. "Ow!"
"Just keep your eyes on the horizon!" Manny yelled over the wind, turning every which way as he tried to follow his own advice.
Diego had done his best to pin himself in place, grimacing as wind and rain pelted him mercilessly. His gaze was fixed on the hollow tree where his mate resided though he still said, "I can't find the horizon!" Sid's scream echoed in their ears and the following moments were horrifying as an enormous wave rose high in the rough sea, crashing down and flipping them. Submerged, Diego nearly lost his grip, blinded by the water rushing around and enveloping him before another motion righted them just as quickly.
All their eyes immediately found where Akira was to be safely concealed and though their hearts stuttered for one terrifying moment, they found most of the sticks and leaves still in place. Diego wanted nothing more than to go check up on her, even if it was to venture close enough to hear her heartbeat or soft breaths—dislodging the well-placed branches and leaves was a risk he didn't want to take. His desire to ensure his mate's safety was intercepted by Sid's usual alarming scream and Diego whipped around, knowing the threat was a large one if the looming shadow, cast by lightning, was anything to go by.
A Giant Crab, its exoskeleton tinged a metallic blue with its body, mostly a threatening mouth, towering over each and every one of them. "Holy crab!" Diego entertained the thought to reprimand Sid for his words but had no time, forced to duck out of the way as the crustacean thrust a claw in their general direction, catching Sid against one of the few trees left, the trunk saving his life. Sid slipped from the large claw just as it crushed the tree, scrambling to the other side of the ice float, thoughtfully keeping the towering sea creature away from Akira's tree.
Diego tried to find a vulnerable spot but the crab's hard shell didn't leave a lot for him though quickly, the creature became the least of their problems as the roughened seas were suddenly several feet below them, the wave they rode coming to an abrupt end. The drop was sheer and held a threat of knocking them askew, doomed to be pulled beneath the agitated waters. Manny herded him and Sid close, the crab, in its fear, inching closer as well. Never one to use rational thinking, Sid clung to one of the crustacean's many legs. "If don't make it, find me a wife, and tell her I love her!"
Their screams mingled together as they plummeted at a speed none of the mammals or crustacean had ever travelled before, heading for another wave as it formed, high and imposing. The block of ice pierced through the rising wall and for the most part, despite their lingering yells, the mammals were in one piece. "We made i—AAHH!" The crab, however, was less lucky as was evident by Sid's screech. All that was left of its presence was a single, detached leg which lingered only because Sid held tight, the sloth also grounded by Manny's trunk.
Sid hastily let go of the leg and Diego pulled away from Manny, shooting another backward glance over his shoulder. "Come on, Ocean is that the best you can do?" The wind had calmed for a few too-long moments, the waters calm for just as long, Manny finding time to scold Sid for tempting their already horrible luck. Diego, lulled by the calm, took a step in the direction of his hidden mate and had barely brushed a paw on the ice when suddenly the wind picked up, whipping violently all around him.
"Aw, come on! A tornado?!" Sid exclaimed, nearly completely underneath Manny for some shield against the gusts. It made no difference though as their float was suddenly its namesake, no longer on the surface of the ocean as they got swept up into the tornado.
"You just had to talk, Sid!" Manny yelled over the wind, holding tight to a tree with Sid clinging to his leg. Diego's claws did him little favours as he slid every which way on their platform. "Sorry, I thought I was ove—oh, whoa!"
For a few, blissful seconds, the tornado sent them above the clouds and silence encompassed their very beings, light blue assaulting their visions. "Ah, some peace." Sid breathed, grinning toothily. Diego crouched low to the ice, tense as he mentally prepared himself for the jarring descent. Something rather colourful caught his eye, however. "Is that—"
"Hey, look! There really is a rainbow around every corner!" No sooner than Sid's acknowledgement were they once again plunging back to the Earth, landing what felt like minutes later with an impactful jolt that rattled Diego's bones, sending a shockwave through his body. He laid there for some time, still as he waited for the next inconvenience the world wanted to throw at them. "Uh, hey Diego? We're," Manny paused, looking around pointedly, "we're good."
The sabre grimaced, glancing up at his best friend before surveying the area just as Manny had. Indeed, the storm clouds were no longer directly overhead, some ways behind them though still close enough to give them a few stray waves that shook them a little more than the ocean at its calmest. Wasting no time, Diego stood, a part of him relieved that he could safely go to Akira and huffed with a fondness he'd never voice as he saw Sid was already ahead of him. The sloth blabbered nonsense as he peeled the leaves and sticks away, mammoth and sabre advancing at a leisure pace that masked their internal desire to run to the pair.
"Oh, and there was this crab and—" Sid stopped abruptly and their hearts dropped for one, terrifying moment but mere bewilderment followed the sloth's exclamation. "Granny?"
"Granny?!"