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Chapter Text

Well, I can't tell if this will be a regret or a wish I'm granting my 7 year old self. Anyway, here is an Ice Age fanfiction I have updated since I was in 1st grade.

It's improved and even though I might get used to it, I'm hoping that you guys will like it.

I'll be doing all 5 movies, so expect some development with the OCs.

OC #1

Name: Redwood

Age (in chronological order)

- Ice Age (first movie) = 6 years old
- Ice Age: The Meltdown = 10 years old
- Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs = 14 years old
- Ice Age: Continental Drift = 17 to 18 years old
- Ice Age: Collision Course = 22 years old

(I know that they mention how many years pass on the Wiki, but to be fair, humans age slower than animals).

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Asexual

Species: Human

Hair Style: Black Long Braided Hair

Voice Claim/Actor: Melissa Hutchison (Voice of Clementine from "TWD". Each season voice is for each movie, but she'll do the season 4 voice for the 4th and 5th movies).

Singing Voice Claim/Actor: Cherami Leigh (Voice of Minerva/Minnie from "TWD". The end credits in the 4th and 5th movie have her singing)

OC #2

Name: Avery

Age: Adult (I really don't know the exact age)

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Straight/Heterosexual

Species: Weasel

Hair Style: Medium Length Hair (I mean, some female character actually had hairstyles)

Fur Color: Light Brown

Voice Claim/Actor: Rachel Bloom

Singing Voice Claim/Actor: Rachel Bloom (The only scenes I can think of that would involve her singing would be when she's singing a lullaby to Redwood & a few future characters)

Thank You and Enjoy the story.

Chapter Text

A human girl was walking alone through a snowy area. She has been traveling for over a few months, in search to find herself a home. It wasn't easy for her, but she had help from her friend Avery.

Avery was a weasel who lived with the girl for a good long while. Once the human turned 6 years old, they began fending for themselves for an unknown reason. Though Avery did more work on trying to keep the human safe and find shelter, the human girl would try to find food for both of them and even wanted to learn how to make fire.

One day they were both lucky and not-so-lucky. They found smoke coming from what they believed was a campsite with humans, but once they got there, tents were destroyed and objects were scattered.

The two split up and looked around to find anything that could help them. Looking around, the human found some old clothing. They looked big but she believed that they would be useful later. She then found something that was bed-like (A/N: I don't know what it's called). It was small and made her believe that it belonged to a baby since her parents had something similar like it before.

Meanwhile, Avery was trying to figure out where the humans might've gone. She knows that she wouldn't be able to care for a human child for too long before one of them ends up dead, so the first thing she wanted to do was find others to help her out.

Before she could continue inspecting, she heard screaming coming from a cliff side the campsite was near.

"AAAHHH!!! DON'T SPEAR ME!"

The human heard the scream and ran quickly to hide. She wasn't a fan of mammals, and especially the dangerous ones, so her first instinct was to wait for them to pass.

Meanwhile, Avery stood near the campsite and discovered that the screamer was a sloth, who seemed to be heading towards the camp with a mammoth and... a human baby? This was a shock to Avery. She thought the humans may have left already, but maybe they were truly that far after all.

She hid near one of the torn-up tents and continued to examine the mammals along with the baby they had. The sloth walks until the stick knocks him out. As for the mammoth, he was checking out what was left of the campsite. He then stopped upon the baby, who look into where the bed-like object was. He cuddled with it before turning to the mammoth and then falling into a basket.

"I told you they were gone", said a saber-tooth tiger that appeared near them suddenly.

"Well, look who it is. Don't you have some poor defenseless animal to disembowel?", said the mammoth.

Avery decided to come out of hiding and speak with the mammals. If they had a human baby with them, she thinks they might be able to help her out. If they can at least.

"He's not wrong, you know. I just came here myself not too long ago". Avery came out of the tent and introduced herself. "Hi, Avery here. And uh, quick question, where did you find that human child? That would be helpful for me to know".

"And why would you want to know that?" the mammoth asked.

"Funny you should ask. Wait here a second". Avery quickly went to one of the tents and called out in a gentle voice. "Come on out. It's fine. I promise you'll be okay".

The human girl hesitated but eventually came out of her hiding spot. This surprised the mammoth, sloth, and saber-tooth a bit.

"Gentlemen, I have a human child of my own".

The human girl did a small shy wave. Seeing two dangerous mammals (excluding the sloth) made her want to run away from fear. But she stood her ground despite shaking a bit from feeling scared.

"We've been on our own for months. We came here looking for more humans but they were already gone". she explains.

"They couldn't be far. I mean, they went this way... or this way?" The sloth said while turning in different directions.

"You don't know much about tracking, do you?" the saber-tooth asked.

"Hey, I'm a sloth. I see a tree, eat a leaf, that's my tracking".

"Okay, I've only been here for a few minutes, but based on what I found, we didn't miss them by much". Avery told them.

"She's right", the saber-tooth said while inspecting a stick. "It's still green. They headed north 2 hours ago".

The sloth sticks a couple of twigs in his mouth and mockingly repeats what he said, which causes the baby and girl to giggle at his antics. The baby then accidentally flings a fish at the mammoth's face.

"You don't need this aggravation. Give me the baby. I can track humans down a lot faster than you can", says the saber-tooth.

"And you're just a good citizen helping out? I didn't think sabers were that peaceful and kind", Avery said.

"For your information, I just know where the humans are going". he told her.

"And where is that?"

"Glacier Pass". The mammoth answered. "Everybody knows they have a settlement on the other side".

Avery gave a surprised look. She now had a plan on where to go not only to find other humans, but to find a place for the human girl to remain safe and maybe even find her family.

"Well, unless you know how to track, you'll never reach them before the pass closes up with snow. Which should be like tomorrow", the saber-tooth mentioned, which gave a worried face to the human girl and Avery. "So, you can give that baby to me, or go get lost in the blizzard. It's your choice".

The mammoth thought about the offer for a second before giving the baby to the sloth instead. "Here's your little bundle of Joy. We're returning it to the humans".

"Mind if we tag along?" Avery asked as she jumped on the human girl's shoulder.

"Sure. The more the merrier". the sloth answered, to which the mammoth glared at him. The human girl could tell he didn't seem to like the idea of extra company coming along. But she didn't want to protest and start a few issues, so she continued to keep quiet.

Meanwhile, Avery looked towards the saber-tooth and watched as the sloth provoked him a bit. "Awww, and the big bad tigey-wigey gets left behind. Poor Tigey-Wigey".

"Sid, Tigey-Wigey is gonna lead the way", the mammoth pointed out.

This worried both the human girl and Sid, so he tried to reason with him. "Uh, uh, Manny, can I- can I- can I talk to you for a second?"

"No. The sooner we find the humans, the sooner I get rid of Mr. Stinky Drool-face. And the baby too. Along with the uninvited guests you agreed to bring with us".

Avery scoffed, "Rude". She looked back as they began walking and saw the saber-tooth say something to Sid. She wasn't sure what it was, but it seemed to spook him. She tried to help by calling after him. "Hey, upper tracker, up front where we can see you".

The saber-tooth obeyed but Sid hung in the back of the herd a bit while carrying the baby.

The human girl was feeling uneasy over the fact that now she has to be stuck with two mammals she feared for the time being. But she trusted Avery and decided to go along with it. Besides, it's only for a few hours.... right?

Chapter Text

During the walk, Avery started a conversation with Sid and got to learn a few things about them. The saber-tooth's name was Diego and the baby was given to them by his dying mother (which was pretty dark). He also explained a bit about himself and Manny.

Eventually, he stopped talking and became the one to ask questions next. "So, how about you? Where did you find your human?"

"I didn't find her. It was more like, I grew up with her and the humans she lived with.... but they disappeared somehow a day after she turned 6 years old and we're trying to find them. Or at least other humans". Avery answered.

"So, you lived with humans? You didn't have a family of your own?"

"I don't know. But at the same time, I don't really care. I lived with people who cared for me and that should be enough if I'm honest".

Before Sid could ask another question, the baby started crying. At first, everyone's first response was to ignore him and let the crying die out. But unfortunately, it went on and on for a while. And eventually, everyone was annoyed and tired of hearing him.

"Oh, you gotta make it stop. I can't take it anymore!" Manny said.

"I've eaten things that didn't complain this much!" Diego mentioned.

"He wouldn't stop squirming". Sid said as he was holding the baby upside-down, which worried Avery a bit.

"You're holding him wrong!" she yelled.

"Watch his head!" Manny said.

"Just put it down!" Diego tells him.

"Jeez, 'pick him up, put him down...'" Sid mutters as he placed the baby on top of a rock.

"Its nose is dry", Diego says.

"That means there's something wrong with him". Sid says.

"Someone should lick it, just in case".

"I'll do it".

Avery sighs and stops Sid. "None of you know how humans work, do you? You can clearly see he's wearing one of those human baby thingies".

"So?" Sid turns to her.

"So, if he poops, where do you think it goes?"

Sid slips his tongue back into his mouth as the others give disgusted expressions. After a slight pause, the baby resumes crying. "Humans are disgusting". Sid states.

"Okay, you. Check for poop". Manny points at Sid.

"Hey, why am I the poop-checker?"

Manny leans closer to Sid as he explains each reason. "Because returning the runt was your idea, because you're small and insignificant, and because I'll pummel you if you don't".

"Why else?"

"NOW, SID!"

Sid walks back to the baby and starts changing his diaper. "EW! YUCK! EW! I mean, my goodness. Alright, look out, look out, look out, coming through".

Sid begins swinging around the diaper and everyone else tries to avoid it, thinking that it's full.

"Hey, watch out!"

"Stop waving that thing around!"

Even the human girl ducked at some point to dodge it.

"Ooh, ooh, I'm gonna slip. Woah!" Sid throws a diaper onto Manny, and he throws it onto the ground. Which revealed that it wasn't full after all. "It's clean! Gotcha!" Sid laughs at his prank.

Manny then slapped Sid out of annoyance. "Will you cut it out?"

The slap made Sid give a weird face, which caused the baby and the human girl to laugh a bit. Once Sid shook his head, the baby continued crying.

"Hey, do that again. They like it". Diego says.

Manny slaps Sid again and the two humans laugh again.

"It's making me feel better too". Manny admits.

"My turn", Avery slaps Sid next, earning a 3rd laugh from the humans.

Sid moves away from her and Manny and tries to give the baby to Diego. "Here, you hold it".

Diego slaps Sid next and the baby tries to copy him. Then Sid grabs his hand to stop him and puts him back down on the rock as he started crying again.

"Here! Turn him towards me!" Diego starts playing peek-a-boo with the baby, which stops him from crying for a few seconds. "Where's the baby? There he is! Where's the baby? There he is!"

The baby was crying again, feeling scared.

"Stop it, You're scaring him!" Manny and Avery both scolded.

As the baby kept crying, the human girl then walked over, picked him up, and started soothing him. She may have been little, but she was able to hold the baby just fine. He stopped crying and the herd look at her in slight surprise.

"Well, that solves that problem", Avery commented.

Then suddenly a growling sound started coming from both the baby's and the human girl's stomachs.

"I bet they're hungry". Sid says.

"How about some milk?" Manny suggests.

"Ooh, I'd love some!" Sid said before Diego corrected him.

"Not you, the baby!"

"What about the other kid?" Avery asks, only to be ignored as Sid and Diego kept arguing.

"Well, I ain't exactly lactating right now, pal!"

"You're a little low on the food chain to be mouthin' off, aren't ya...?!"

"STOP FIGHTING!!!"

The herd looked toward the one who yelled, which turned out to be... the human girl? This was a bit of a huge shock to all of them, including the baby. Humans should be able to talk... should they?

Just then, the human girl gasped and covered her mouth in her own shock. "I used my loud voice," she said in more of a whisper.

Before anyone could ask anything, the herd heard a sound coming from the bushes. They turned their attention to the noise and saw a watermelon.

"We'll talk about this later. For now, let's just deal with their hunger", Avery says.

Despite the shock, they agreed and Manny went to grab the watermelon. As he picked it up, a dodo bird appeared from the same bush and snatched the melon. It squawked like crazy and ran away, which left everyone feeling confused.

They decided to follow the dodo to get the melon back. These kids weren't going to go hungry on their watch. They looked over a cliff and saw a nesting ground with lots of dodo birds who were marching and training like soldiers.

Some dodos were speaking out to the crowd.

"Prepare for the Ice age!"

"Protect the dodo way of life!"

"Survival separates the dodos from the beasts!"

"Protect the dodo way of life!"

"Prepare for the Ice age!"

"Ice age?" Sid asks in confusion.

"I've heard of these crackpots". Diego said.

The human girl's eyes scanned over the area in both amazement and confusion, but her eyes fell on the dodo who had the stolen melon. He put it on a tree stump, where there were two other melons. After placing it safely, the dodo saw the group and panicked.

"AWK! Intruders!"

A leader dodo was lecturing about a smoking crater to other dodos. "Now, don't fall in. If you do, you will definitely..."

The panicking dodo sprints in, not paying attention to where he's going. "Intruders! Intrud- AAAAHHH!" He trips and falls into the crater as a sizzling sound is heard.

The other dodos cringe at both the sight and the sound.

"...burn and die", the leader dodo finishes.

The herd walks over to try and convince the dodos to get their melon back. "Hey, can we have our melon back? Both of these kids are hungry and uh..."

"NO WAY!" The leader dodo refused. "This is our private stockpile for the Ice Age! Sub-arctic temperatures will force us underground for a million, billion years!"

"So you got 3 melons?" Manny asked.

The dodos looked at their melons before turning back to the group, offended by that comment. "If you weren't smart enough to plan ahead, then doom on you!"

The other dodos started chanting "Doom on you, doom on you...!".

"Get away from me!" Manny said.

The Leader Dodo suddenly tripped and the first melon rolled away. "OH NO! NO!"

The melon rolled into the baby's arms. Seeing that part of their food supply is in danger, the leader sprang into action. "RETRIEVE THE MELON! TAE KWON DODOS! ATTACK!!!"

The dodos suddenly did martial arts poses, trying to be intimidating. They started kicking each other. One dodo kicked another toward the baby. He kicked the melon out of the baby's hands. Another dodo caught the melon with his head and tossed it to another dodo. Tossing it from one dodo to another, they kept tossing it until one dodo accidentally tossed it over a cliff.

"THE MELON!"

"THE MELON, THE MELON, THE MELON, THE MELON..." Not paying much attention, the other dodos pushed one off the cliff, taking themselves with him.

"There goes our last female". one commented.

The human girl snuck behind the tree stump and attempted to take one of the melons but the dodos noticed her and charged at her, which caused her to run.

"Over here!" Avery shouted at the human girl on the other side of the area. She thankfully took notice and threw the melon at Avery, to which the dodos came after her next.

Together, they took the melon out of Avery's hands and tossed it to each other upward one dodo kicked it away. Three dodos caught it with their beaks but were standing right above the smoking crater. "GOT IT, GOT IT, GOT IT, GOT IT, GOT IT!.... DON'T GOT IT!" They fall into the crater with the melon.

The dodos then gasped. "The last melon".

Sid had the melon in his grasp but was mobbed by all of the dodos. The melon flew out of the sloth's hands- once again. Manny caught the melon and held it high, preventing it from being snatched up by dodos. But as he concentrated on protecting the melon, he failed to notice one of the dodos was behind him. The dodo leaps up and chomped on Manny's tail, causing him to scream in pain and toss the melon into the air.

The melon is now flying high into the air. Sid runs after it, dodging several dodos along the way. The melon bounces on some of the birds' heads before landing in Sid's hands. Sid smiled, now having some food for the kids. But as he looks up, he notices all the dodos were starting to close in on him, ready for the final assault to grab the melon.

Surrounded, Sid looked at the human kids. The baby held his hand out, wanting the melon, while the human girl looked more concerned about if Sid will make it.

Outnumbered, but not giving up on the kids, Sid held the melon tightly and started running through the dodo flocks. Using his hand to protect him, he pushed, shoved, and smacked every dodo in his path out of the way. Like a brave football player, he braved his way through the countless dodos in his way. Some dodos tried attacking Sid but ended up inadvertently attacking each other. Fighting his way through the flocks, Sid saw the remaining flock charging towards him all around. Making a risky action, Sid jumped up and flew above all the dodos.

Manny, Diego, Avery, the human girl, and the baby watched Sid fly. The kids closed their eyes, worried for the sloth. Sid landed on the ground, and though hurt, he managed to save the melon. The kids looked and cheered, along with the others. Sid successfully saved the food for them. Sid celebrated his victory while the dodos mourned over the loss of their food supply. Sid didn't pay attention, being too busy to notice. But in his joy, he threw the melon to the ground like a football player spiking the ball after a touchdown. This caused everyone's joy to turn into shock.

"AAH, Sid! Now we gotta find more food". Diego said in anger.

"Diego, it's fine. Look". Avery pointed at the kids as they were eating the melon pieces.

The herd's attention was then turned to the dodos that were stacked on top of each other and trying to keep their balance. "Right, more to the right. Right, right, right. More to the right. Right, right, right".

"Look at that. Dinner and a show". Manny commented as Avery giggled.

The dodos fell off the cliff and the human girl looked at the mammals. Maybe Avery was right about sticking with them. Sure, they have a few issues, but they still tried to make an effort on taking good care of the kids.

Although, the problem/question remained as the human girl realized she or Avery would have to explain something later.

Chapter Text

Later that night, under the starry sky, Sid wandered off to find food for himself. "Now to find a meal befitting a conquering hero". Sid lets go of the branch but hits him to the ground but he gets up. "What ho? A foe? Come on, come on. You want a piece of me?"

Sid uses karate sounds and hits the tree but found an acorn. "Spoils worthy of such a noble-" Sid was about to eat it but as the acorn was about land, something came flying into Sid and grabbed the acorn It was Scrat! After a brief struggle, Scrat took the acorn out of Sid's mouth and started scurrying away, but not before shaking his fist at Sid for nearly taking away his acorn.

*Meanwhile*

"Bedtime, squirt". Manny tuck the baby in his trunk and settled himself in as he did, he looked at the human girl, who was asleep near Diego. He then looked toward Avery, who walked over to tuck her in.

This time was as good as any to talk about what happened earlier. "So, what was that earlier? With her speaking?" Manny asked Avery.

The weasel looked at Manny and then back to the human girl. "She was always able to talk", she answered.

"So why didn't she?"

"Humans are different from us mammals. They have their own language and don't really understand ours. Believe me, I've been around them long enough to know they couldn't understand a word I was saying".

"But how did she learn?"

"This one taught her" Avery pointed at herself, looking proud. "It took a while but she started to understand. The only reason she doesn't speak now is because she doesn't really like you guys. You, she's getting used to. Sid, she was fine with him from the start. But Diego, uh..."

Avery looked toward Diego and frowned. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure she's never going to be close with him".

"That makes a lot of sense" Manny commented before he noticed Sid returning. "Oh, the triumphant return".

"Huh? Oh, that". Sid laughs nervously. "I'm so full. Uh, anyway what were you guys talking about before I got here?"

"It was about Redwood and her speaking" Avery answered.

"Who?" Sid asked.

"That's her name. Redwood." Avery gestures to the human girl. "Before you ask, I didn't name her, her parents did. I should've told you before but I'll do that tomorrow". Avery walked toward the human girl, now named Redwood, and laid down in a sleeping position. "Night boys".

"How about a good night kiss for your big buddy Sid..." Sid asked, turning to Manny.

"Shh! They're asleep". Manny said, assuming he was talking about the humans.

"I was talking to you". Sid clarified, causing Manny to give a disgusted look on Sid as he prepared to dust off the rock to sleep. "Fine, I'll tuck myself in". Sid reclines on the rock; making moans and groans of relaxation and yawning. "All right... Good Night..."

He flops on the rock, then turns over. As he's turning over and over, Manny becomes slightly irritated as he watches Sid quirk around on the rock groaning. Sid is then lying on the rock on his back and his head lolling off the rock while talking in his sleep. He shuffles his body counter-clockwise towards the front of the rock, making fizzing noises with his teeth and tongue, and flops on his side. He suddenly jerks his arm and head up and down and loudly groans.

Manny shouts angrily; startling Sid. "WILL YOU STOP IT!"

"All right, All right, jeez... I was just trying to relax". Sid said sheepishly as he finds a comfortable spot on the rock and begins to suck his thumb.

Everyone started sleeping to pass the night. As for Manny, he looked at Diego one last time and slowly closed his eyes, ready for the night. But with everyone dozing, Diego quietly opened his eyes. With the moonlight in his eyes, he quietly approached Manfred. He looked at Manny, Avery and then the baby. All of them weren't awake. He smirked, proud to have fooled them into accepting him into the group before turning to the baby. Lifting his paw, he attempted to take the baby out of Manny's trunk, but a noise stopped him from doing so.

To his relief, it was only Sid snoring. Diego extended his paw again, but this time, Manfred moved his trunk, holding the baby tighter. Frustrated, Diego looked at Manny before hearing a noise up on a nearby hill. He quietly approached the hill and saw a dead bush rustling. Crouching down, like he was hunting, he leaped into the air and tackled his watcher.

But as he prepared to attack, he saw that it was only one of his pack members, Zeke. "What the...?"

"Go ahead. Slice me. It'll be the last thing you ever do".

"I'm workin' here, you waste of fur". Diego argues with Zeke before hearing another voice.

"Frustrated Diego?" asked his other pack member, Oscar. "Tracking down helpless infants too difficult for you?"

"What are you two doing here?" Diego asked.

"Soto's getting tired of waiting". Oscar tells him.

"Yeah, Yeah, He said, "Come back with the baby, OR DON'T COME BACK AT ALL!" HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Zeke laughs.

"Well, I have a message for Soto. Tell him, I'm bringing the baby. And tell him I'm bringing... a mammoth". Diego says.

"A "mammoth"?" Zeke questions.

"Mammoths never travel alone". Oscar points out.

"Well this one does, and I'm leading him to Half Peak". Diego explains.

"Mmm... Look at all that meat. LET'S GET 'EM!" Zeke tries to run to Manny but is stopped by Diego.

"Not yet! We'll need the whole pack to bring this mammoth down, get everyone ready. Now!"

As the two sabers headed out, Diego left to return to his sleeping spot. The second he laid down, Redwood moved up closer to him and laid her head on him, unaware that she was doing so.

This surprised Diego a bit and he tried to get her off, but it backfired when she snuggled up closer to him. Not wanting to disturb the child, Diego sighed in annoyance and started dozing off to sleep.

*The Next Morning*

Morning arrives, Manny wakes up and feels for the baby in his trunk, only to discover that the baby is gone. He stomps over to the sleeping Diego, who wakes up along with Avery and Redwood.

"Where's the baby?" Manny asked.

"You lost it?!" Both Diego and Avery asked.

Redwood clear her throat to get their attention and pointed to where Sid was, "We're missing someone", she said.

They all look at each other and noticed Sid is not there.

"SID!!!"

*Meanwhile*

Sid is with the baby in a jacuzzi-like mud hot spring; using the baby as a 'chick magnet' to attract two female sloths.

"Oh, he's lovely. Positively adorable!" said a female sloth named Rachael.

Another sloth named Jennifer starts baby-talking to the baby. "Hello, Pumpkin. Hello, little bunny baby..."

"Where did you find it?" Rachael asked Sid.

"Ah, poor kid was all alone in the wild. Sabers were cornering him, So I just snatched it!" Sid answered.

"Oh, so brave of you!"

"Yeah, well... He needed me... And I wished I had one of my own, too..." Sid said wistfully.

Jennifer then got excited. "REALLY?" She calms herself down before continuing. "I'm... I'm attracted to that quality in a male".

"Who wouldn't be?" Sid said while unaware that the baby is sinking into the mud hot spring.

"You caring for a baby..." Rachel was gushing.

Sid then finally noticed that the baby is gone and pulled the now muddy baby up. "Yeah, well... You know... " The baby playfully throws mud on Sid's face; they both laugh as he grabs something to wipe the mud off his face. "Cute kid, huh? So, as I was saying ladies... uh..." He wipes the 'something' on his face, which is Manny's trunk; he realizes and gasps and looks to his side to see both an annoyed Manny and an upset Redwood. "Oh, hey! Hey... Manny!"

Manny takes the giggling baby away. "What's the matter with you?"

"Excuse me, ladies. You just keep marinating and I'll be right back" Sid gets out of the mud hot spring and gave the ladies one last look before following Manny and Redwood. "Sexy".

After he leaves, Jennifer and Rachel begin talking. "He's not much to look at, but it's so hard to find a family guy".

"Tell me about it. All the sensitive ones get eaten".

*With Sid, Manny and Redwood*

Sid walks over to Manny and Redwood to stop them. "No, no, no. Guys, please, I'm begging you. I need him!"

"Why, a good-looking guy like you?" Manny said sarcastically.

"No, you say that but you don't mean it". Sid tells him.

"No, seriously, look at you. Aw, those ladies they don't stand the chance".

Redwood then gives Manny an upset expression. "You have a very mean sense of humor".

"Hey, he shouldn't let me cramp his style", Manny turns to her.

Sid then takes the baby from him. "Oh, thanks, Manny, you're my pal. You are the best".

"Without Pinky". Manny takes the baby back.

"Manny, Manny, I need him!" Sid gives up and starts humming while heading back to the mud hot spring. "So, ladies, where were we".

To Sid's surprise, he ends up in the wrong hot spring that had the rhinos that tried to kill him before.

"Carl?"

"Easy, Frank!"

They growl and Sid screams.

*With Manny and Redwood*

After leaving Sid, Manny was speaking to Redwood as he tosses the baby a bit with his trunk. Redwood stood quiet again, especially since she didn't know how to respond to what Manny was saying.

"Pretty tail walks by, suddenly he moves like a cheetah. And that tiger... Yeah, Mr. Greater Tracker. Can't even find a sloth. What am I? The wet nurse?" He puts the baby down on a rock as the baby starts babbling and laughing. "What are you looking at bone bag?"

Redwood stands near the rock and starts making faces at the baby, which made him giggle. Manny took a look at the two before speaking to them. "Look at you two. You're both gonna grow into great predators, huh? I don't think so. What have you got? You got a little patch of fur. No fangs, no claws. You're folds of skin wrapped in mush. What's so threatening about either of you?"

Redwood gave Manny a determined look and made some growling sounds, which sounded more cute than threatening. "I'm threatening! One day, I'll be tough enough to fight really scary creatures!" Redwood then made a few fighting moves before tripping on her own foot and landing on her butt.

Manny shook his head but had a small smile on his face. "Sure you will, kid". He helps her back on her feet with his trunk before turning to the baby. "And what about him? What's he going to do?" Manny poked him but then the baby hugged Manny's trunk as the mammoth's expression changed.

Redwood looked at him and his current expression. It was softer and less grumpy than before. Plus how he didn't act like a jerk to her or the baby like he did with Sid and Diego, she was thinking maybe he wasn't as bad as she thought he was.

Manny then shook his head and lost the softer expression. "Hey, does this look like a petting zoo to you, huh?" Manny held his trunk high to get the baby off, but that led to him pulling some of Manny's fur with him, which caused him to yell in pain.

"Okay, all right, wise guy. You just earned a time-out". Manny placed the baby on a tree as he lays upside down on his back and continues to laugh. "Oh, you think that funny. How about this?" He puts the baby on the highest branch of the tree. "You'll be a little snack for the owls".

"Don't do that", Redwood said, feeling worried. She tried climbing the tree to get to the baby but she loses her balance and fell off. She would've hurt herself if it wasn't for Manny catching her with his trunk.

He sighed before placing her on his back. "If you promise to watch him and entertain him, I'll bring him back down, okay?"

Redwood nodded and Manny got the baby off the tree and gave him to Redwood, who started making faces at him again.

"You're both brave little squirts, I'll give you that". Manny commented to the human kids.

*Back with Sid*

Sid is still running but stops when he finds Diego with Avery. "Oh, Thank goodness. Thank goodness". Sid then calls out and pretends that Diego eating him. "OH NO! A TIGER! HELP! HELP!"

"Where's the baby? Are he and Redwood okay?" Avery asks in concern.

"Oh, they're fine. Manny has them". Sid whispers to her before turning to Diego. "Just put me in your mouth. Hurry up". He calls out again, still pretending Diego eating him. "AAAAAOOOOOHHHH! HE GOT ME! Oh, help..."

"Get away from me". Diego tells him before walking away.

"Sid, what's going on?" Avery asks.

"He went this way! Over here!" The rhinos who were chasing Sid said.

"I'll tell you later", Sid told Avery before running to Diego and kicking him, which angered him and he went to bite Sid's neck. The rhinos came from around the corner and found Sid (who was pretending to be dead) in Diego's mouth.

"Oh, Carl. The tiger beat up us to him!" Frank said, feeling disappointed.

"Wait a minute". Carl sniffed Sid, trying to see if he really was dead. Diego looked at him as if he was trying to claim Sid as his own kill. Carl backed away a few inches, irritated by the sloth's smell, and believed he and Frank were too late. "He's dead alright".

"Oh, carnivores have all the fun".

The rhinos leave and Sid sighs in relief. "Gosh, I hate breaking their hearts like that. But you know how it is". Sid tries to leave but Diego's jaw is practically locked on Sid's neck. "All right, thanks. You can put me down now". Sid continues to struggle and tries to get himself free before he tries calling for help. "Manny! Avery!"

Avery sighs and walks up to Diego. "Drop it!" she orders but is ignored, so she repeats herself, "Drop it!" Avery gets more annoyed and tries to reason with the saber. "Diego, please spit him out. Neither of us knows where he's been and I doubt either of us wants to know. He smells bad for a reason".

Diego thinks for a second before spitting Sid out.

"Thanks," Sid tells Avery.

"Don't mention it. Also, where's Manny?" Avery asks.

Her question was answered when Manny appeared with the baby in his trunk and Redwood walking next to him. "Guys, I thought we were in a hurry. Oh, and Avery, teach your kid how to fight. She going to get hurt learning that herself".

"First, she's too young. Second, that's going to be her new human family's job. And third, since when are you concerned?" Avery asked as she catches a ride onto Redwood's shoulder.

As for Sid, he starts talking to Diego. "Boy. For a second there, I actually thought you were gonna eat me".

"I don't eat junk food". Diego states.

Sid laughs a bit but then gets slightly concerned. "Thought you were gonna... I thought you were gonna... Were you?"

Chapter Text

*Montage*
(Song: "Send Me on My Way", sang by Rusted Root)

The herd continued their traveling to find the humans. Sid was calling out to them since he was way behind. "Come on, wait up. Wait up. Come on, come on. Can you wait a second, please? Hey Fellas".

They started waiting for him near a geyser and Sid decided to take a rest and lay on it. "Phew! Thanks for waiting".

Manny, Diego, and Avery then started counting backwards. "Three, two, one..."

The geyser suddenly shoots some water along with Sid up into the air.

"Sure is faithful". Manny and the herd started walking away as Sid fell back down.

Further on into the walk, Sid was carrying the baby and he poked Sid on the neck, trying to play with him. Sid ignored him but turned to the baby after getting poked again. Sid poked him back, but the baby poked him once more. This started out friendly, but it turned into a tense poking match between the two. The baby squirmed as he kept poking Sid.

"Don't make me reach back there!" Manny calls out to the two.

"Yeah, well, he started it!" Sid tries to explain.

"I don't care who started it, I'll finish it!"

"Listen to Manny, guys! At least Redwood is behaving!" Avery tells them.

The group kept going on their walk. They stopped upon seeing a geyser blow out a red-colored amount of steam. Before they could do something, they saw a huge glacier rolling past them. It was like a glacier train. After the glacier rolled by, the geyser blew out a green-colored amount of steam. Confused, but not worried, the group continued on.

They traveled past a giant slab of ice that went down onto a cliff as a result of the group's weight. But the slab went back up like a seesaw, causing Sid, the only member left, to fly back where he came.

Later on, with Sid back with them, the group continued their journey. Sid, having an idea to entertain himself, picked up a snowball and threw it at Manny. He looked back, and Sid pointed towards the baby. Ignoring their antic, Manny continued the walk with the others.

The group walked past a monument that looked a lot like Stonehenge.

"Modern architecture. It'll never last". Manny says.

"How much do you guys want to bet that it will?" Avery asked.

Later, Diego found a tiger paw print in the snow. Before the others could see it, he covered it up and drew a human footprint in its place.

The herd then ended up on an iced lake at some point and tried to get across. Manny, Diego, and Redwood were struggling to get across, while Sid (who was holding the baby), and Avery were skating around them effortlessly.

"Hiya, Manny". Sid said as he skated passed Manny. To which, Manny lost his balance and fell.

"Hi, Diego". Avery said as she skated circles around him.

"Hello, Redwood". They said at the same time while Redwood was slipping.

Sid and Avery did a few tricks on the ice before crashing into an ice wall and getting stuck.

"Hi, Avery". Redwood said while picking up the baby.

"Hey, Sid". Manny said as they walked passed them.

Soon, the gang comes across Scrat who is burying his acorn. "You're lost, aren't ya?" Manny asked Diego.

"No. I know exactly where we are". Diego tells him.

"Ask him for directions". Manny suggests.

"I don't need directions!"

"Fine, I'll ask him". Avery walks to Scrat. "Hey, buddy! Have you seen any humans come around here?"

Scrat nods no before he starts moving around and doing charades.

"Oh, I love this game! I love it! Okay okay". Sid tries to pay attention to what Scrat was trying to tell them. "3 words. First word".

Scrat taps his foot.

"Uh, stomp!" Sid guesses.

Scrat then angrily jumps around.

"No, no! Stamp, stamp!"

"Let me try". Manny says. Scrat puts his acorn over his back. "Uh... pack!" He guesses.

"Good one, Manny!" Avery compliments. Scrat then pretends to be a saber-tooth. "Pack of... long teeth and claws". she guesses next.

Diego looks at his claws but puts them away upon hearing what she guessed.

Manny, Sid, Avery, and Redwood then try to guess what the pack was. "Pack of... wolves, pack of...?"

"Pack of bears?" Redwood guesses.

"Pack of fleas?" Manny guesses.

Scrat walks angrily and points at Diego, meaning "Pack of tigers", but the herd doesn't notice.

"Pack of whiskers? Pack of... noses?" Sid guesses.

"Uh... Pachyderm?" Avery guesses.

As Sid just says random guesses, Diego flicks Scrat into the mountain slope.

"Pack of lies! Pack of troubles! Pack a wallop! Pack of birds! Pack of flying fish!"

Scrat was sent flying over a snowy hill. His acorn landed on the hill, but it was rolling down it and it started creating a snowball. Scrat got caught in this snowball as it rolled down the hill and got bigger and bigger.

As for the group, they continued their journey in search of the humans. Sid, once again acting mischievous, put the baby on a rock and picked up a snowball. He threw it to Manny, who got irritated and swiftly turned around. This time however, the baby pointed towards Sid. Sid got nervous, worried about what Manny might do, before seeing a snowball fall from the sky. It landed right on him, burying most of his body in the snow. Redwood picked up the baby and both humans laughed at Sid's misfortune while Manny, while irritated with Sid again, couldn't help but give a slight smile.

However, this adventure was not without serious cold problems. A blizzard hit them and they were shivering. But they kept on going, unwilling to stop. Diego led them through the blizzard, getting some ice on his saber teeth. Manfred on the other hand had icicles growing on his tusks while he had the baby and Redwood ride on his back. Sid had icicles on his nostrils as he shivered in the freezing cold. And Avery was struggling to catch up with them since her feet were stuck in blocks of ice.

*End of Montage*

*Later*

Further into the journey, Diego walked a distance from the group, looking for where to travel next. But as he reached a snowy hill, he spotted the human tribe, not far away. Surprised to see them there, Diego turned back and saw Manny and Avery approaching. Diego looked around, trying to find a way to lead them away from the humans. He spotted a dark cave nearby and thought of a plan.

"Hey! Great news. I found a shortcut". Diego told the two.

"What do you mean shortcut?" Manny asked.

"I mean faster than the long way around".

"Ow! We know what a shortcut is". Manny said as the baby was climbing on his face.

"Look, either we slip through there and beat the humans to Glacier Pass, or we take the long way and miss them". Diego explains.

"Through the mysterious cave of possible death and danger?" Avery said sarcastically as she pointed to the cave. "What do you take us for? Idiots? Even Sid wouldn't want to go through there".

"But you want to get Redwood to the humans to keep her safe as soon as possible, right?" Diego asks her. "Well, this is the quickest way to do it". Diego then turns to Manny. "And Manny, this time tomorrow, you could be a free mammoth. Or a nanny. Personally, I never get tired of peekaboo".

"Hey, guys, guys, check this out". Sid came up with two halves of an icicle and placed them on his neck, and pretended that he was impaled through the neck. Redwood, who came up after him, giggled at his antics, which were interrupted when Manny spoke up.

"Sid, the tiger found a shortcut".

Sid and Redwood took one look at the cave and both didn't want to go in.

"That doesn't look safe. Do we have to go in?" Redwood asks Avery.

"Diego says it's the quickest way to the humans". She responds.

Sid then decides to walk away. "No thanks. I choose life".

Diego stops him in his tracks. "Then I suggest you take the shortcut".

"Are you threatening me?"

"MOVE, SLOTH!" Diego's yell echoes and an ice shelf above them starts to crumble and fall.

"Way to go, tiger". Sid said, patting Diego's head.

"Quick, inside!" Manny tells everyone as they all run into the cave. Once they're inside, the vibration of the fallen ice caused them to look up and see sharp icicles dangling over them.

"Back outside!" Avery says, but everyone stops in their tracks to see that they were blocked in by the fallen ice. They looked back at the icicles, and thankfully they weren't going to fall as the vibration stopped.

"Okay, I vote shortcut". Manny says as the group realizes that they had no other choice and proceeded to walk through the cave.

*Inside the Cave*

As the herd walks through the icy cave, Diego gives them a warning. "Come on, guys. Stick together. It is easy to get lost in here".

Sid, ignoring Diego and focusing on the ice formations, hits his nose really hard on a slab of ice and he falls to the ground, unconscious. Unbeknownst to him, his tongue, which had flopped out of his mouth when knocked himself out, had stuck to the ice floor.

A few seconds later, he feels woozy and tries to get up but his tongue is stuck. Once he tries to pull it off and gets free, he stands up and looks around for his friends.

He ends up in another part of the cave where there seems to be animals trapped in see-through ice. Sid screams when he finds a creepy-looking fish. "Heh-heh, a fish". He laughs it off before screaming again after he looks at the dinosaur, he then looks at his frozen ancestors. Sid eventually regroups with his friends.

Redwood pauses for a few seconds and finds a spear sticking out in the ice above her head. She remembered what Manny said about her being threatening and telling Avery that she needs to learn how to fight, so maybe a spear would help her out.

She tries jumping multiple times to grab the spear but wasn't able to get it. She tried again and this time she grabbed it. But she looked down to see that Sid was helping by holding her up. She smiled at him before pulling the spear out of the ice.

Once Sid put her down, she tried doing a few fighting moves with the spear before running back to the group and showing them her new weapon, to which they were surprised that she was able to find one. She then climbed on Manny's back and showed it to the baby, responsibly.

The herd then passed by a big spaceship, to which the baby looked at it and makes a Spock hand figure. "Ba".

Sid catches up with the group and Manny turns to him. "Will you keep up please? It's hard enough to keep a track of two children".

However, both the baby and Redwood ended up sliding on some ice that was above Manny. They kept sliding until they both were dropped out of sight. All the mammals screamed and looked in the hole they were dropped in, Redwood was holding the baby tight as they were both sliding at high speed.

"Come on!" Avery told them as they all jumped in after the kids. They went sliding through the iced caves and into a large cavern, where they all went into four different tunnels, with Sid being the one who was in the same one as the kids. Redwood held the baby closer and tried to reach for Sid, but they got separated when Sid fell into a hole that was under him. He ended up regrouping with Manny, Diego (who fell from a hole in the ceiling), and Avery.

They all saw (or what they thought) an iceberg ahead and panicked, only for them to slide onto it. It broke off and fell on the ice slide that was below them. After avoiding a bunch of ice spikes from the ground, the group ended up on a series of slides that were near the kids. They were so close to getting them until the slide the kids were on sent them into the air.

As this was happening, Sid, Diego, and Avery smashed through an ice wall which was also a dead end for the ice slides. Meanwhile, Manny managed to catch both the kids before crashing into the wall, causing a lot of snow to fall around them.

Once the snow cleared, the herd had tired faces and snow in their hair, aside from Diego and Avery, who popped out of the snow feeling pumped and energized.

"WOO! That was amazing!" Avery shouted.

"WHOA! WOO! YEAH! Who's up for round 2?!" Diego yelled before he and Avery turned to the rest of the group, who angrily stare at them. "Oh. T-t-tell the kids to be more careful".

"Sorry. I got a bit excited and forgot we could've been near our deaths". Avery apologized.

*Later*

After the group got out of the ice cave, they entered a different cave that had tons of drawings on the walls. Both Redwood and Sid looked at all of the drawings in amazement. Redwood then saw something near one of the cave's walls, so she gave the baby to Sid and went to check it out.

Near one of the walls was another spear, but it had a symbol of a leaf carved into it. This made her take out the spear she took from the ice cave and realized that it had the same symbol.

"What's going on?" Avery asked Redwood.

"Look. These are mommy and daddy's spears", Redwood showed her the spears, and Avery's eyes widen after seeing the leaf symbols on them.

"Are you sure?" Avery asked despite already knowing the answer. "Look, I'll figure this out. Just go with everyone else, okay?"

Redwood nodded as she left Avery with one of the spears. Avery tried looking over the spear before looking up at the wall and seeing some images, which she tried to piece together what they were trying to show.

Meanwhile, Redwood caught up with the rest of the herd and saw Sid looking at a cave drawing of tigers chasing antelope. "Look, look. Tigers. Eesh!"

The baby starts to whimper a bit out of slight fear and Sid tried his best to comfort him. "No, it's OK, it's OK. Look, the tigers are just playing tag with the antelope... with their teeth".

"That's not how you play tag", Redwood tries to correct him.

"That's how tigers do it", Diego joins the conversation and turns to Sid. "Come on, Sid, let's play tag. You're it".

Sid giggles nervously and goes to another wall with drawings. "Sure. OK, OK, OK, where are the sloths? You know, never see any sloths in these things. Have you ever noticed? Oh! Look, Manny, a mammoth".

"Ooh, somebody pinch me". Manny said sarcastically.

"Hey, hey, this fat one looks just like you. Aw, he's got a family...oh and he's happy. Look, he's playing with his kid". The more Sid described the image, the more it caught everyone else's attention, except for Avery. "See Manny? That's your problem. That's what mammoths are supposed to do".

"Sid..." Diego tries to stop him.

"Find a she-mammoth, have little baby mammoths..."

"Sid!"

"W-What?"

"Shut up".

"But..."

As Manny stared at the drawings, the still images began to move in his mind, coming alive. He remembered playing happily in a lush meadow with his wife and his child, romping in the sunshine until a horde of humans ran out of the woods, waving their spears fiercely. Manny faced off against the hunters, trying to hold them back with his imposing tusks. Behind him, his family ran to find shelter. Then Manny heard a deep, terrified scream. He turned around and saw that his mate and child were trapped against a rock wall by humans aiming spears at them. Before Manny could move, another group of humans dropped heavy rocks from atop the rock wall. Bellowing in anguish, Manny saw his family being crushed by the rocks. His cries shook the landscape, echoing off the rocks all around.

Back in the cavern, the mammoth shook his head, clearing the devastating memory from his mind. He breathed heavily, trying to regain control of his runaway emotions. Sid and Diego stared at Manny with worried eyes. Then they turned back to the painting, clearing their throats uncomfortably. Manny kept staring at the cave drawings. He gazed at the sketch of the father mammoth cradling his young child in his trunk. Slowly, he raised his own trunk toward the illustration. Before he could reach it, both the baby and Redwood's hands touched the drawing gently.

They were standing on their feet, propped up against the cave wall. Surprised, Manny pulled back his trunk. He blinked at the little human kids. The baby stroked the picture of the baby mammoth with his fingers, and Redwood glances back at the mammoth as though he was connecting the two in his mind. Then Redwood picked up the baby in her arms and smiled up at Manny. He wrapped the two humans around his trunk and slowly lifted them off the ground. He curled his trunk, hugging the two kids close as they cuddled against him.

Sid sniffled, wiping a glob of snot from his nose with his paw onto Diego. Manny swooped the baby and Redwood onto his back and walked out of the cave without a word. Sid followed and Diego took one last look at the painting of the mammoth family as he let out a sigh before seeing Avery coming toward him with a sad look on her face.

"What happened? Where were you?" he asked her.

Avery only answered with a sigh and left. Diego was confused and a bit concerned, but not concerned enough to keep asking, so he sauntered out of the cave after the others.

Chapter Text

Deep in the glacial valley, Runar (the human tribe's leader) led his hunters across a snowy plain. Their wolves pulled on their leashes, sniffing the ground like hunting dogs. The humans stopped beside a set of footprints to examine them, but then they shook their heads sadly. They weren't tiger tracks. The wolves sniffed around, digging their noses in the snow, but they seemed confused.

Runar tightened his grip on one wolf's leash—he had to admit that the wolves had lost the scent. One of the hunters came over and took the leash from Runar's grip. With a deep sigh, the chief looked down at his son's broken necklace in his hand. He shook his head, giving up hope. He had to lead his people through Glacier Pass to their settlement on the other side before the snow made that trip impossible. With a heavy heart, Runar followed his hunters back toward the rest of the tribe.

*Meanwhile*

The herd was only a few miles away from their destination. Diego was still curious about what happened with Avery ever since they left the cave, but whatever it was that made her upset, she was really good at hiding how much it bothered her. But Diego was snapped out of his thoughts when Manny started speaking.

"Well, would you look at that? The tiger actually did it. There's Half Peak. Next stop, Glacier Pass".

"How could we have ever doubted you?" Avery said sarcastically with a smirk on her face.

"Did you hear that, little fella? You're almost home!" Sid tells the baby before turning to Redwood. "And you're going to have a new home". Sid then paused as he felt his feet getting warmer. "My feet are sweating".

"Do we have to get a newsflash every time your body does something?" Diego complains.

"He's doing it for attention," Manny says.

"Yeah, just ignore him". Avery agrees.

"Seriously! My feet are really hot!" Sid ran up to the group saying "ow" every time he stepped forward.

Suddenly, the herd froze as a loud rumbling sound was heard.

"Tell me that was your stomach". Manny said.

"I'm not sure if it was," Avery told him.

Diego shushed them as Sid tried to reassure them what the sound was. "I'm sure it was just thunder... from... under... ground?"

Suddenly, lava explodes out of the ground and causes everyone to scream and run away. More lava comes out of the ground eventually the lava has destroyed most of the ice around them, including some on their path. Which separates Diego from the group.

"Come on, keep up with me!" Sid says while running, although he is running in one place.

"I would if you were moving!" Manny yells at him.

Diego catches up with them by jumping from his ice to theirs.

"Wow, I wish I could jump like that". Sid says.

"Wish granted!" Manny kicks Sid so hard that it launches him in the air and he lands on the other side of the volcano, which is a safe area that continues their path.

"Come on, move faster!" Diego tells the remaining group.

"Have you noticed that there's a river of lava?" Avery yells back at him. She climbs onto one of Manny's tusks as he takes a look at the lava, and then at the baby, who is whimpering in fear. Making his choice, he jumps to the other side with the baby and Avery.

Meanwhile, Diego is about to jump but looks to his side to see Redwood about to cry from fear.

"You have to jump!" he tells her.

"I can't!" Tears slowly fall from her eyes.

"You need to!"

"NO!"

"Listen to me, I'm not moving until you jump, and if you don't go now, it'll be too late for both of us!" He tries to convince the child, but she still won't budge. Diego then tries a different tactic. "Jump on my back and whatever you do, do not let go!"

Redwood listened this time and climbed onto the saber's back, holding him tight. He tries to make the jump, but Redwood's weight stopped him from making it. The two were now dangling over the lava, with Diego hanging on to the ice's ledge and Redwood still hanging on to him for dear life.

Manny looked behind him and saw the two in trouble. He then gave the baby to Sid and placed Avery next to them. "Hold Pinky! And you three stay here!"

Avery was about to protest but Sid stopped her and made sure she stood with him and the baby.

Manny slowly stepped close to reach them, but not too close so that the ice won't break. As he and Diego were reaching for each other, the ice's ledge started slowly breaking. The part of the ice Diego and Redwood was on broke, and Manny managed to catch them before they fell.

Realizing that the ice won't hold them for long, Manny threw the two to where the others were at. Once they were safe, the ice Manny was on broke completely and he fell along with it into the lava.

"Manny!"

"NO!"

Both Sid and Redwood yelled while Avery and Diego looked shocked at what just happened. However, by some miracle, large steam coming from the lava launched Manny into the air and he landed in the safe area near the rest of the herd.

Everyone looked up to see Manny and both Sid and Avery ran to check if their friend was okay.

"Manny, Manny, Manny, you okay?" Sid places the baby down for a second.

"Come on, come on, say something. Anything!" Avery nudges him a bit.

Manny started mumbling but nobody understood what he said.

"What? What? We can't hear you!" Sid tells him.

"You're standing on my trunk".

Sid realizes and moves his foot so Manny could breathe. "Oh, you're okay! You're okay!"

Avery sighs in relief and goes to check on Redwood, whose tears finally stopped falling from her eyes. As for Diego, he had one question for Manny. "Why did you do that? You could have died, trying to save us".

"That's what you do in a herd". Manny answers. "You look out for each other".

"Well, thanks" Deigo then turns Redwood. "Are you okay, kid?"

Redwood wipes her tears away before answering. "That was really scary. But you didn't leave me behind. You helped me".

"Huh, I guess you're not as bad as we thought, Diego. You too, Manny". Avery tells them. "Looks like I made the right choice choosing this herd".

"Hey, I don't know about you guys, but we are the weirdest herd I've ever seen". Sid comments.

Chapter Text

After the events of the volcano, the herd continued their journey, however, Avery and Redwood stood in the back since they were talking to each other. Redwood was explaining that despite all the dangerous stuff that happened, she was happy that Manny, Sid, and Diego were with them. She finally grew to like them and felt safer than she was when she was alone.

But unbeknownst to her, Avery wasn't really listening. Instead, she had something she wanted to tell the child since they left the cave, but she wasn't sure how to put it.

After building up some courage, Avery gave a sigh and cut off Redwood mid-sentence. "Uh, Redwood, I need to tell you something".

"Okay. What is it?" she asked.

"Remember the drawings in the cave and the spear we found near it?"

"You mean mommy and daddy's spear?" Redwood stopped in her tracks, but the others didn't notice.

"Yes... uh..." Avery didn't know what to say next without making this sound awful. So she took a breath and tried to explain what she found out in the cave. "Redwood... we won't be able to find your parents.... because they are... they're gone".

"What do you mean?" the child asks, hoping that Avery wasn't saying what she thought she was saying.

"I was reading the drawings. It said that your parents... didn't survive". This was painful for Avery to tell a kid that her parents are dead. It was even more painful when she saw the shock and utter sadness in Redwood's eyes. "I'm sorry..."

Redwood started sobbing quietly. Avery felt very bad and tried to comfort her. This didn't stop the crying however.

Eventually, they had to catch up with the others. Once they got close, everyone noticed Redwood crying.

"Hey, what happened?" Sid asked Redwood in concern. "Why are you crying?"

Avery answered his question and explained to the herd what she told Redwood. Once she finished, everyone was in shock. This was not news to be taken lightly, especially in Redwood's case.

"Well, that explains why you looked like that when we left the cave," Diego says. "And you choose now to tell her this?"

"Look, it was either now or she eventually finds out herself", Avery tells him.

"Shh, it's okay". Sid hugs Redwood in an attempt to make her feel better. But just like for Avery, this didn't change anything. They let her cry it out for a bit before Manny spoke up.

"Hey kid, listen; your family may be gone but... they would want you to keep moving forward", He understood what the child was feeling at the moment and tried to help.

"He's right. They loved you, didn't they?" Sid asks.

"...yes.." Redwood responds, still sad.

"Then they would want you to be happy" Sid clarifies. "And besides, you still have us. And soon you'll be with other humans. You'll have a family again".

Redwood broke away from the hug as Avery spoke next. "I know this is a lot to take in, but I promise... we promise to help you get through this, right guys?"

The herd nodded and Redwood gave a smile that was still sad but thankful. She would need time to accept this, but she's happy that she has friends to help comfort her in a time like this.

"Whenever you're ready, we can keep moving", Diego says.

Redwood took a few seconds to wipe her tears before nodding that she was ready. Manny placed her on his back, next to the baby, and the herd continued moving.

"Hey, you still have that spear?" Diego asks.

"Yes, it was my mommy and daddy's", Redwood takes it out and shows him.

"Hang on to that, okay? I'm sure they would want you to keep it."

Redwood nodded and looked at the leaf symbol on the spear in deep thought about the fact she won't be able to see her parents again. If this was the last thing that her parents left behind, then she was going to take great care of it.

*Later *

Hours passed by and the herd eventually was caught in a huge snowstorm.

"Guys, we gotta get these kids outta the wind". Manny says as Redwood and the baby huddle together for warmth.

Avery spots a nearby small cave and points towards it. "We'll be safe from the storm there".

The group made their way to the small cave and were finally away from the blizzard.

"How much further?" Manny asks Diego.

"Three miles", Diego responds.

"I'm beat".

"So am I", Avery agrees before sighing. "How about we get there in the morning? For now, let's rest here for the night".

The group turns around and notices Sid drawing on the wall with a rock.

"What are you doing?" Redwood asks him in curiosity.

"I'm putting sloths on the map". Sid says before showing them a poorly drawn picture of himself.

"Why don't you make it realistic and draw him lying down?" Manny tells him.

"And make him rounder", Diego adds.

Manny takes the rock from Sid and draws a circle around the picture's belly, making it look fat.

"Perfect. Now it looks like the real thing", Avery smirks.

Sid laughs sarcastically at his friends' rudeness. "Ha ha. I forgot how to laugh". He takes the rock back and scribbles over the picture to erase it. However, he does it so fast that sparks flew from the rock to a small pile of sticks, which caused them to light on fire.

Everyone looks at the fire in surprise. "I'm a genius". Sid says proudly before he kisses the rock.

The fire soon got big enough to warm the kids, as well as light up the mini cave a bit more.

"Thanks, Sid", Redwood says sweetly.

"No problem, kid. But from now on you'll have to refer to me as Sid, Lord of the Flame". Sid does a pose near the fire to look cooler.

"Hey, Lord of the Flame, your tail's on fire", Manny points out.

Sid looks at his tail and realized he was right. He started running in circles while yelling, which made the kids laugh.

Diego got tired of this and pulled Sid onto some snow that was next to him. Sid sighed in relief once the fire on his tail was put out. "Thank you. From now on, I'm gonna call you Diego--"

"Lord of Touch Me and You're Dead". Sid flinched in fear at what Diego said before getting pulled into a noogie. "I'm just kiddin', you little knucklehead".

"Hey Lovebirds. Look at this", Manny catches their attention and shows them that the baby started taking his first steps, surprising everyone.

"I don't believe it". Sid says as the baby seemingly starts walking towards him. "Come here, you little biped. Come here, you little wormy-worm. Come to Uncle Sid. No, no, no, no, no, no. This way. This way".

The baby changes directions and starts walking to Diego. "No, no, no. No, go to him. Go to him". The baby gets to Diego and hugs his leg. "Uh, okay". He says awkwardly, not really sure what to do. "Good job. Um, keep practisin'".

The baby starts walking away and this time, towards Redwood and Avery. "Not good with children are you, saber?" Avery says to Diego as he nods no. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it".

The baby gets to the girls as he hugs Redwood and Avery pats him on the head.

"He reminds me of when you started walking", Avery tells Redwood.

"Was it like this?" She asks.

"Hmm, it was less of normal walking and more of falling on your butt".

Redwood and the others giggle at Avery and let the baby continue walking.

She then sighs sadly. "I miss my mommy and daddy".

"We know you do", Manny says. "But as Sid said, you still got us".

Redwood smiles slightly and turns her attention back to the baby.

"Look at that. Our little guy is growing up", Sid says proudly. "And our little girl is going to be the best big sister".

Redwood looks confused at first but realizes what Sid means and smiles happily. "If I'm going to be a sister, can I name the baby?"

"I think that's the parent's job", Diego points out. He sees her look turn to disappointment and he starts to feel slightly bad. "But I guess you could do it if you'd like".

Redwood smiles excitedly and starts thinking of a good name. "How about... Roshan?".

"Roshan?" Sid asks.

"I take it back," Diego says regrettably.

"No, too late. You let her name him, now that's his name" Avery tells him before turning to the baby. "Isn't that right, Roshan?"

The baby responds by babbling before falling on his butt and yawning.

"All right, come on. Sleep time, lumpy. I mean, Roshan". Manny wraps his trunk around the baby to sleep like before. "You too, missy". He tells Redwood.

She walks next to Diego and fiddles with her hands a bit. "Um, can I sleep near you for the night?"

Diego hesitates but allows it and nods. Redwood lays her head on him like before and closes her eyes to sleep.

"You and Manny are both pushovers with these kids, you know that?" Avery says as Diego rolls his eyes. She curls up into a ball and starts to fall asleep.

"You know, Diego, I've never had a friend who would risk his life for me". Sid says, reminding Diego about the lava incident.

"Yeah, Manny's... he's a good guy".

"Yeah, he is. Well, good night", Sid positions himself to go to sleep.

Meanwhile, Diego takes one last look at the herd's real destination. Now that he's truly gotten to know them, he was worried about what was going to happen once he leads them to his pack. He wasn't sure what he was going to do.

Chapter Text

The next morning, the herd was approaching half peak. Sid was also cleaning up the baby for a bit. "Let's get you all cleaned up. What's your daddy gonna say if you go back all stinky? Let me just clean that up. That looks good. A little bit here".

"You clean up nice, little fella". Manny says.

"I think he's starting to look like me. Hey Avery, what do you think?", Sid asks her.

Avery pretends to think hard as she answers. "I can see it a bit. What about you, Diego?"

Diego becomes silent for a moment before speaking. "Maybe we shouldn't do this".

"Why not?" Sid asks.

"Because if we save them, they'll grow up to be hunters". Diego explains. "And who do you think they'll hunt?"

"Maybe because we save them, they won't hunt us".

"Yeah, and maybe they'll grow fur and a long skinny neck and call you Mama!" Diego says angrily.

"What's your problem?" Manny asks, feeling concerned about why Diego was acting more aggressive.

"Are you feeling okay?" Avery asks.

The saber hesitates before answering the group. "I'm fine. Let's go. I'm freezing my tail off".

The group continues and heads into Half Peak. However, Diego stops as he sees his pack starting to hide away to get ready to attack. He looks back at his friends and begins to worry. He really grew to care for them, plus Manny saved his life, the baby and Redwood liked him, and Avery and Sid trusted him now. Was he really going to go through with this?

"Diego, you frozen back there?" Manny calls out.

"We're almost there. Come on", Redwood tells him.

It was now that Diego had to choose if he was still going to betray them or not. And with no second thoughts, he quickly ran up to the group to urge them to hide. "Get down!"

Everyone looked at him, feeling confused.

"Shh! Get down and follow me!"

"What's goin' on?" Sid asks.

"At the bottom of Half Peak... there's an ambush waiting for you" Diego confesses.

"What?" Sid, Avery, and Redwood say in shock.

"What do you mean, "ambush"?" Manny asks before he came to a realization about his friend. "You set us up."

"I don't believe this. Why?" Avery asks.

"It was my job! I was supposed to get the baby, but then..."

"You brought us home for dinner!" Manny finishes in anger.

"That's it! You're out of the herd". Sid points.

"Ugh, I should've known better than to trust a saber", Avery crosses her arms.

Diego looks at Redwood, who doesn't say anything and instead turns away from him, feeling very disappointed and heartbroken once again.

"I'm sorry". Diego says shamefully before Manny holds him against the wall by the throat with one of his tusks.

"No, you're not! Not yet".

Diego tries to reason with them. "Listen, I can help you".

"Stay close, everyone". Manny tells the rest of the herd. "We can fight our way out".

"You can't!" Diego tries to reason with them. "The pack's too strong. You have to trust me".

"Trust you?! Why in the world would we trust you?!"

"...Because I'm your only chance".

Everyone stood silent until Redwood spoke up. "...I trust him".

Eventually, the herd made a difficult choice and decided to trust Diego once again, hoping they won't regret it.

*Later*

Diego approached his pack alone as they were hiding. "Hello, ladies".

"Hey, look who decided to show up". Oscar says.

"Diego, I was beginning to worry about you". Soto tells him.

"No need to worry. In about two minutes, you'll be satisfying your taste for revenge". Diego reassures the pack.

"Very nice".

"I see the sloth and the weasel. And they got the baby!", Zeke says as he sees Sid walking in the snow holding a bundle, with Avery on his shoulder.

"Don't give away your positions until you see the mammoth. He's the one to surprise". Soto reminds the pack.

Diego walks up to Zeke. "You want to maul something, don't you Zeke?"

"I wanna maul", he whines anxiously.

"Then what are you waiting for?"

Zeke begins to run after Sid and Avery and the rest of the pack follows, except for Diego and Soto.

"No, I said wait for the mammoth!" Soto says angrily.

Diego shrugs at him, acting innocent. Soto follows his pack soon after and they start chasing after Sid and Avery.

Meanwhile, Avery sees the pack running toward them. "They're coming".

"Can I use it now?" Sid asks.

"Not yet". Avery waits till the pack gets close. Once they're close enough, she signals Sid. "Now!"

Sid jumps from the snow and starts skiing on top of it with two log pieces on his feet, much to the pack's surprise.

While skiing on the snow, Sid does a jumping trick, which impresses Avery a bit and she yells back at the sabers. "Eat our powder!" She turns to Sid. "What do you call that trick?"

"The backscratcher", he answers. Their smiles fell off when they saw huge rocks up ahead on their path. Sid bumped into one and lost the log piece on his left foot.

He almost loses his balance until Avery tells him to put both his feet on the one log piece he had left. He listens and starts snowboarding, using one of the rocks as a halfpipe. "Loop-de-loop! Slalom! Slalom, baby!"

"I guess you do have skills for something" she compliments.

Sid looks back to see the sabers falling behind. Avery on the other hand tries to get him to look forward again. "Sid, cliff!"

But it's too late. Sid loses the last log piece as he and Avery are sent flying through the air. They fall on the ice, which makes them lose the bundle and slide to a small hill, away from the pack.

The sabers get to the bundle and Soto turns it around, only to find that they've been tricked since the bundle had nothing but snow in it.

"Sorry, fellas. He got a little frostbite". Sid calls out to them before he and Avery start running.

Soto angrily pushes the bundle away. "Get them".

The pack obeys and continues to run after the two. However, once they turn to a corner, they see Manny holding a big log. "Surprise!" He throws it at them and causes them to go unconscious.

"Okay, follow me". Diego calls out to Manny. "We'll pick up Sid and Avery and get outta here while we can".

Before they can leave, Soto finds them. "Come on, Diego, let's bring this mammoth down".

*Meanwhile*

Sid and Avery walk to a tree where they hid the kids, unaware that Zeke had followed them.

The baby peaks his head out of his hiding spot and smiles at the two. "There he is". Avery says happily.

Sid tries to take him out as the baby does a peekaboo gesture and a roaring sound. "That's right. Where's the baby?" Sid says.

"Speaking of which, where is--" Avery gets cut off as she and Sid turn around just in time to see Zeke jump at them.

Sid quickly grabs the baby out of the tree's hole and Zeke gets himself stuck there. Sid and Avery then push him deeper into the hole.

"Survival! Of the! Fittest! I don't think so. Yeah". Sid hi-fives the baby. He then turns to Avery, who's looking around the tree for Redwood, only to find that she isn't there.

"Sid, Redwood is gone", she says, feeling worried.

"Where did she go?" Sid asks.

Avery takes a moment to think and realizes where she could've gone. "I know where she is! We need to get to Manny and Diego now!"

Sid listens and the two run back to their friends.

*Back with Manny and Diego*

Diego and Soto start closing in on Manny until Diego gets in front of him to defend his friend.

"What are you doing?!" Soto asks.

"Leave... the mammoth... alone". Diego tells him, cementing his friendship with his new herd.

Soto looks behind him to see Oscar and Lenny (the other saber) have gotten up to help him. "Fine. I'll take you down first".

Soto and Diego growl at each other and begin to fight. Meanwhile, Manny fights with Lenny and Oscar.

Redwood watches from behind a rock that kept her hidden from the pack. She sees Diego and Soto still fighting until Soto throws Diego into a rock to knock him out.

Redwood gets scared for her friends. She doesn't want to lose them like her parents. So, building all the courage she had in her, she took out her parents' spear and runs toward the fight.

Soto then went to Manny, who got cornered near a rock by the other sabers. He's ready to kill him but stops as Redwood steps in front of him, holding out her spear to the pack like a hunter.

"What are you doing here?" Manny asks her.

"I'm protecting you", Redwood says while trying to seem unthreatened by the pack of sabers. Meanwhile, Manny looks at Diego, who lifts his head up to see the two in danger.

"I've had enough of this" Soto says.

Manny waves his tusks in front of Redwood as Soto pounces at her. She screams in fear and Diego jumps in front of Soto's attack, which causes him to fall on the snow.

"NO!" Redwood yells, as she and Manny see their friend harmed.

Avery, Sid, and the baby run around the corner, and just before Soto could kill Diego, the baby starts making noises. Soto stops and looks at the baby, ready to have his revenge.

Manny then strikes Soto, flinging him into a stone wall. The impact caused several sharp icicles from the top of the wall to fall on Soto, impaling and instantly killing him off-screen.

Lenny and Oscar see their leader dead and Manny growls at them. The last of the remaining pack run away from the herd.

"We did it". Sid says happily. His smile drops as he and the rest of the group turn to see Diego laying in the snow, badly injured. They walk towards him in concern.

"We were some team, huh?" he says weakly.

"Were? Come on, we're still a team". Manny tells him.

"I'm sorry I set you up".

"It's okay, Diego. We're not mad and we forgive you, right Sid?" Avery says.

"You know me, I'm too lazy to hold a grudge". Sid places the baby in front of Diego.

Redwood sits next to him with tears in her eyes. "I-I'm sorry. This is my fault. I shouldn't have..."

"No, this wasn't your fault. You were just trying to help" Diego reassures her.

"My parents... they're gone... and now... you?" she starts sobbing.

"Hey, knock it off, kid. You gotta be strong. You have to take care of Manfred, Avery, and Sid... especially Sid".

"Come on, you can lick this. You're a tiger". Sid tries to think of a way to help Diego. "Look, I'll carry you. Come on, what do you say? Come on, Diego, come on. Tell him he's going to be OK, Manny".

"Listen, you have to leave me here. If those humans get through the pass, you'll never catch them". Diego tells them.

"You didn't have to do that". Manny says.

"That's what you do in a herd", Diego repeats the words Manny had said when he saved him.

Manny picks up the baby as he reaches for Diego. Everyone had tears in their eyes at the thought that Diego won't make it.

Redwood sadly pets Diego's head as Avery gently pulls her away from him. Without another word from any of them, the rest of the herd sadly leave him behind and continue their path to Glacier Pass.

Chapter Text

Through the Glacier Pass, the human tribe traveled through the pass. Runar took one last look at the valley. He knew his family was gone, so he placed his wife's necklace down in the snow and walked on.

He then stops and turns around to see Manny slowly approach him, (with Sid, Avery, and Redwood hiding behind him). Manny lifts his trunk but Runar assumes it's to attack him, so he aims his spear at the mammoth. Manny then grabs the spear and tosses it to the side so Runar couldn't use it.

The wolves and the rest of the tribe turn around and believe their leader is in trouble, so they start running at Manny to attack.

Manny lifts his trunk once again, finally being able to show that he had the baby on his back. Runar is both shocked but also relieved to see his son is still alive. He turns to his tribe and stops them from attacking Manny.

Sid then faints from the situation and Avery sighs tiredly.

Meanwhile, Manny placed the baby down as he walked toward his father and reached for him. Once he got to him, the two share a loving hug, which causes Avery to tear up in happiness. Sid wakes up and smiles at the small scene.

Avery then gestures for Redwood to go to the humans. She listens and slowly starts walking to the tribe. They spot the child and she shyly waves at them. They were surprised to see another kid and looked around her to see if she had her parents with her.

Once they realized that she was basically alone, Runar reached his hand out to her and decided to welcome her to the tribe. Redwood reaches for his hand as Manny and Sid start to leave.

The baby notices and whines a bit as he calls out for them, which causes Manny and Sid to stop and turn back to the humans. Redwood turns around herself and freezes to think for a bit. Avery, (who is on Redwood's shoulder), gives her a confused look and wanted to know what she was going to do.

Redwood looked at the human tribe and back to her mammal friends. The point of finding the humans was so she can be safe and happy. But now that she thought about it, she felt the safest and happiest when she was with the herd. Despite their rocky start, the adventure they just had brought them closer.

Redwood thought a bit more for a few seconds before she made her decision. She wanted to stay with the herd. She pulled back her hand from Runar. He was surprised by her actions but when she gestured to Manny and Sid, he knew why she rejected his offer.

Runar nods at Redwood understandably, and she smiles at him before walking back to Manny and Sid. She looked at Avery, hoping that she wouldn't be mad or disappointed in her. But instead, Avery gives the child a supportive look. She agreed with Redwood's choice to stay. After all, she would also miss the guys if they left.

"Aren't you going to go with them?" Sid asked.

Redwood nodded no. "Why would I want to go if my family is you guys?"

Manny and Sid smiled at the kid and seemed happy that she wanted to stay.

Meanwhile, Runar placed the baby down so he can give the herd one last goodbye. Sid was the first one the baby went to and they shared a hug. "Don't forget about us. OK?"

He passes him to Manny, who hugs him with his trunk, tearfully. "We won't forget about you".

Redwood and Avery hug the baby next. "You brought all of us together. And we're happy you did", Avery says before Runar comes to get his son.

He takes out his wife's necklace and gives it to Redwood. She tearfully accepts in and places it around her neck. This was something, along with her parents' spear, that she was definitely going to take care of.

She wipes away her tears as they all watch the tribe begin to leave.

"Bye". Sid waves sadly. "Goodbye. Goodbye".

"Sid..."

"Bye".

The baby then covers his eyes and does a quick peek-a-boo just like what Diego did before.

"That's right. Where's the baby?" Sid says.

"Come on, you three, let's head south". Manny turns around and stops as he sees Diego walking towards them. The baby notices and does another peek-a-boo at Diego, which allows him to give his goodbye.

Meanwhile, Sid continued on saying 'bye' until the tribe was finally out of the herd's sight.

"Save your breath, Sid. You know humans can't talk. Well, except for Redwood". Diego says.

Sid, Avery, and Redwood turn around and finally notice the saber near them, which made all of them extremely happy and relieved. "Diego? You're OK". Sid says happily.

"Nine lives, baby". Diego boasts a bit before getting tackled into a group hug by everyone except Manny.

"YAY! You're OK. You're OK. I could kiss ya". Sid kisses Diego's head before immediately regretting it and trying to spit out the hairs in his mouth.

"I never thought I would be so happy to see a saber's face, let alone yours," Avery says, earning a look from Diego. "Heh... What I mean is, I'm glad you're alright".

Diego then turns his attention to Redwood. "So you're still with us?"

"Yup. We're a herd after all", she tells him before giving him another hug; this time gentler.

"Welcome back, partner. Wanna lift?" Manny offers Diego as he and Redwood stopped hugging.

"No thanks. I gotta save whatever dignity I've got left".

"You're hanging out with us, now buddy. Dignity's got nothing to do with it". Sid assures him.

"Besides, I think we all lost that the minute this journey started", Avery says jokingly.

"But I'll take that lift". Sid tells Manny.

"Yeah, climb aboard. You too, kid. We've got another long journey ahead of us".

Sid and Redwood excitedly climb onto Manny's back while Avery catches a ride on one of his tusks.

"Yeah! Mush!... Or not mush. Either way", Sid says the herd begins heading south. "This is gonna be the best migration ever. I'm telling ya, I'll show you my favorite watering holes. I turn brown when the fungus in my fur dries".

"Sounds very attractive". Manny says sarcastically.

"You know, this whole Ice age thing is getting old. You know what I could go for? Global warming".

"Keep dreaming, Sid", Avery shakes her head.

The herd continues their conversation as they start to migrate. Their old adventure was over, while a new one has just begun.

Chapter Text

Ah, I see that this story has come to an end. I'll be working on the second movie and will post the first chapter of it very soon.

For this chapter, I would like to hear your opinions on the first movie and what did you think of my OC's roles in it.

Were they good? Were they bad? Let me know.

_______________________________________

Anyway here is some quick info to know before I do the second movie.

- Redwood is going to be 10 years old in the next movie, (so 4 years have passed for her)

- Both Redwood and Avery will get more development as the movies go on

- There might be another OC in the future but we'll see what happens.

_______________________________________

Thank you for listening, and see you soon for "Ice Age: The Meltdown".

Chapter Text

At the bottom of the white cliff, there's a bunch of prehistoric animals having fun at their waterpark, made out of ice formations. A male start is sitting in the shade on an ice formation while a female start is sitting in the sun. "Oy, this global warming is killing me!"

"This is too hot, the ice age was too cold. What would it take to make you happy?" The female start saying before falling into the water.

"This, I like", The male started to smile.

A stag slides down an ice slide. As he reached the bottom, a beaver lands on his antlers, causing him to yell out in pain. Nearby, a group of Baptornis slides down an ice slide into a pool of water where they see piranhas swimming and chase after them, attempting to eat them. A shovelmouth calf lands in the water and swims to the surface.

Up above, a turtle and a beaver slide down an ice slide into the water but a freaky mammal gets stuck at the bottom, causing a pileup that sends him skidding into the Baptornis, knocking them over like pins.

Meanwhile, a baby turtle slides into a pool of water. A baby beaver is building a dam when a baby aardvark and a baby start running through it, destroying it and causing the baby beaver to cry.

Sid then blows into a shell to get their attention. "No running, James. Camp rules".

A female sloth looks at him lovingly because the ice that Sid is behind makes him look muscular.

James, the baby aardvark, then stops and glares at Sid. "Make me, sloth".

"Make me, sir!" Sid walks out from behind the ice and turns to the female sloth. "It's all about respect".

She gets grossed out by Sid's real appearance and walks away. A baby start stops by a pool and James gets on her back and jumps in.

"Jared, you just ate! Wait an hour! Hector, no, no, no, you can't pee-pee there!" Sid recoils in disgust. "Okay, there is fine! Ashley, stop picking your..." He's suddenly dragged into the air by a vine around his foot. Baby animals surround him with one of them holding a stick.

"Piñata!" They cheered.

"Stop! You're supposed to wear blindfolds!" Sid tells them.

"Okay", a beaver covers his eyes and hits once.

"It's my turn to hit Sid!" The kids go back and forth on who should hit Sid next, (while actually hitting him). And Sid is swung over to the beaver kid, who hits him hard and sends him flying and landing on the ground.

The baby animal runs over to Sid while cheering, only to be disappointed when they realize he has no candy in him. One of them then suggests burying him.

They push Sid into a hole and the baby beaver jumps up and down on his head, pushing him further in until they're stopped.

"Hey, hey! Whoa! Who said you kids could torture the sloth?", Manny says, walking over to them.

"Manny, don't squash their creativity". Diego tells him.

"Yeah, they're just having a bit of fun. Nothing harmful... for them at least". Avery agrees.

"Hey, Manny, Diego, Avery. My bad mammal jammals. Wanna give a sloth a hand?"

Manny uses his trunk to get Sid out of the ground. "Hey Sid, where's Redwood? You said you were watching her", Avery asked.

"Oh, she's right... uh..." Sid looks around but doesn't see the child anywhere. "She was here".

"Incoming!" Redwood yells as she slides toward the herd on a big piece of ice. She zooms right past them and lands straight into the water. Not more than 4 seconds later, she climbs out of the water with a smile on her face. "That was fun!"

"Why did you do that?" Avery asks.

"Did someone dare you to do it?", Diego guessed.

"No, I just slipped on the ice", Redwood answered. Avery and Diego both sighed and shook their heads as she walks over to the group while squeezing the water out of her hair. "So what are you guys talking about?" she asked. 

"Well, I opened my camp. Campo Del Sid. It means Camp of Sid". Sid tells the group.

"Congratulations. You're now an idiot in two languages". Diego jokes.

"Shhhh! Not in front of the K-l-D-Z! These little guys love me! Right, Billy?"

"Don't make me eat you". Billy tells him, causing the other kids to laugh.

"Ah, they kid. That's why they're called kids".

"I told you, Sid. You're not qualified to run a camp", Manny says.

"Oh! Since when do qualifications have anything to do with childcare? If Avery can do it, how hard can it be?" Sid asks as Avery facepalms herself. "Besides, these kids look up to me. I'm a role model to them!" The kids tie a vine around Sid's legs as he's talking and ram into him, knocking him down.

"I can see that", Diego says sarcastically.

"So can I". Avery smirks. "Either way, Sid, you're still not qualified. Roshan was easy because he was a baby. But when kids are over 6, the pressure is on".

"Okay, are you trying to offend him or me?" Redwood crosses her arms.

Sid's expression turns upset as he tries to get back up. "You guys never think I can do anything, but I'm an equal member of this herd! I made this herd! And you need to start treating me with some respect!" He walks away (or more specifically hops away) from them as the herd tries to apologize.

"Come on, Sid."

"Sid, we were just kidding".

Avery and Redwood look at each other with guilty expressions. "He's not wrong you know. Without him, we wouldn't even be here". Avery reminds them as she hops into Redwood's shoulder.

"Maybe we should start treating him with respect", Redwood says.

"Hey! Let's play pin the tail on the mammoth!" The kids charge toward the rest of the herd, who look worried and stunned.

"SID!!!"

*Meanwhile*

Sid is still hopping and tries to get the vine off of his legs. "I can do stuff! No stupid respect". He finally gets the vine off and walks off. "I'll show 'em".

*Back with the Herd*

Meanwhile, Manny has managed to get the kids under control by telling them a story. "And so, in the end, the little burrow reached his mommy and they lived happily ever after".

The kids cheered at the ending as Avery turned to Manny. "Told ya a story would work".

"Good thinking", Diego compliments.

A kid beaver putting his hand up to ask a question. "Why does the burrow go home? Why doesn't he stay with the rabbits?"

Manny tries to answer him. "Because... because he wanted to be with his family".

A little bird lands on one of Manny's tusks. "I think he should go with the girl burrow. That's a great love story".

"Okay". Manny picks the bird up with his trunk and puts her down on the ground. "Well, when you tell your burrow story, that's what he'll do".

"Burrow is a demeaning name", says a deer kid. "Technically, it's called a Wild Ass".

"Fine". Manny corrects himself. "The Wild Ass boy came home to his Wild Ass Mother".

The kid animals laugh at what he said.

"See? That's why Manny called it a burrow!" Avery says frustratingly.

Even Diego and Redwood laughed until Manny and Avery glared at them, causing them to stop. The kids then start suggesting random details about Manny's story.

"Did the burrow have a grazing problem? That would make him more relatable".

"Boring".

"I don't get it".

"It's not believable".

"Do burrows eat their young?"

"It's not a very satisfying ending".

"Sometimes I throw up".

Manny tries to end things from there. "They lived happily ever after. You can't get any more satisfying than that. One big happy family. That's the way it's supposed to be".

"Then where's your big happy family?" The little bird asks.

Manny gets taken aback and becomes upset at what the bird just asked him. He becomes reminded of when he lost his family in a human attack.

The others notices and Diego stands up. "Then the hungry tiger ate the pesky little kids". He jumps off the rock he was laying on and growls at the kids who scream and run off.

Avery turns to Manny in concern. "You okay, buddy?"

"Sure, why not?" He answers her.

"We just thought you..."

"Story time's over! The end".

"Okay, okay! Sheesh. No need to be so grouchy". Avery tells him.

Then two start kids run past them. "Get out of the way! Run for your lives!"

"Hey, hey, watch it!"

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, where's everybody going?!" Diego asks them.

"The world's coming to an end!" one tells him.

"Huh?" Avery looks more confused than concerned.

"It... it is really?" Redwood asks her.

"What are you talking about?" Manny asks.

"Fast Tony! He says the world's gonna flood!" The other start kid tells him.

Cut to Fast Tony, a blue armadillo, holding a reed. "Folks! I hold in my hands a device so powerful, it can actually pull air right out of the sky!" Animals gather around him. "Ho-ho! Gather round! Gather round"! He turns to a female anteater. "Pardon me, do you have gills, ma'am?"

"Uh-uh".

"So you can't breathe underwater?"

"Uh-uh".

"Ah-ha". Fast Tony goes over to a Glyptodon named Stu, who has a reed up one of his nostrils. "My assistant here will demonstrate".

Stu sniffs through the reed. "Hey, I can smell the ocean".

"Stu!" Fast Tony takes the reed out of Stu's nose. "What are you doing? I can't sell that now!" He puts the reed in Stu's mouth. "You suck air through your mouth, you moron!" He shoves Stu's head into the water. "Through its essential design and sturdy construction, you'll have plenty of air for eons to come!" Fast Tony releases Stu, allowing him to breathe. "Of course, results may vary". He gets grabbed by Manny's trunk and yanked towards said mammoth and the rest of the herd.

"Why are you scaring everybody with this doomsday stuff?" Manny asks him.

Fast Tony laughs. "I'm trying to make a living here, pal". He curls up, frees himself from Manny's trunk, and bounces over to a block of ice before uncurling and standing on it. "It's all a part of my accu-weather forecast. The five-day outlook is calling for intense flooding, followed by... THE END OF THE WORLD!"

Everyone gasps.

"But a slight chance of patchy sunshine, later in the week".

"Come on, don't listen to him". Manny tells the other animals.

"Yeah, Fast Tony would sell his own mother for a grape". Avery points out.

"Are you making an offer?" Fast Tony asks her before looking away to the other animals. "I mean no, I wouldn't not!"

"But haven't you all heard? The ice is melting". An adult start tells the herd.

"You see this ground? It's covered in ice. A thousand years ago, it was covered in ice. A thousand years from now, it will still be ice". Manny says.

"Uh, I'm not so sure about that. The ice is thawing out in the sun". Redwood picks up a melting piece of ice.

"But still, don't you think Fast Tony's being a bit delusional about all this?" Avery asks the human.

"Say, buddy, uh, not to cast aspersions on your survival instincts or nothing, but haven't mammoths pretty much gone extinct?" an ant-eater asks.

"What are you talking about?" Manny asks him.

"I'm talking about you being the last of your kind".

"Ah, your breath smells like ants".

The ant-eater sniffs his breath and recoils in disgust. "Phew. Be that as it may, when's the last time you saw another mammoth?"

Manny looks upset as his mind starts bringing back his past memories. Diego tries to comfort him, "Ah, don't pay any attention to him, Manny".

"Yeah, and besides, mammoths can't go extinct! They're the biggest things on Earth!" Redwood argues back to the ant-eater.

"Oh well, what about the dinosaurs?" A Gastornis asks her.

"Well, unlike mammoths, the dinosaurs got cocky and made enemies. Please tell me what are the odds of them surviving afterwards". Avery joins the argument.

The conversation ends when someone starts shouting. "Look! Some idiot's going down the evisorator!"

"Oh, please tell me that's not our idiot". Manny hopes, referring to Sid.

Everyone looks up to the top of the evisorator, where Sid is standing close to the edge. "Okay! I'm gonna jump on the count of three! One! Two!" he shouts down.

"Sid! Don't move a muscle! We're coming up!" Manny shouts back at him.

The other animals then started chanting 'jump', including Diego himself.

"Jump! Jump! Jump!" He then notices Manny, Avery, and Redwood glaring at him and stops. "Sorry".

Meanwhile, Sid is still counting, but a bit differently this time, since he was scared. "2 and 31000s. 2 and 41000s..."

The rest of the herd somehow managed to reach up to the top quickly to stop Sid. "Sid, what are you doing? Get down from there!" Manny tells him.

"No way!" Sid says, still feeling upset about earlier. "I'm gonna be the first to jump off the evisorator and then you guys are gonna have to start showing me some respect".

"You jump off this, the only respect you're gonna get is the respect for the dead!" Manny angrily tells him.

"Manny's right, Sid! You're putting your own life at risk here!" Redwood calls out to him, more in a worried tone.

"Oh, come on, guys, he's not that stupid". Diego assures them. Sid then prepares to jump, making Diego's statement incorrect. "But I've been wrong before".

"Geronimo!" Sid jumps but Manny catches him with his trunk and pulls him back. He throws Sid behind him but ends up sliding into him, Redwood and Avery and they start sliding toward Diego.

"Hey, watch it!"  They ram into Diego and send him spinning onto a flat patch of ice and landing flat on himself. Manny, Sid, Avery, and Redwood have all landed in a heap.

"Is everyone okay?" Avery gets up from the heap.

"I'm fine". Redwood sees Sid's paw underneath Manny. "But Sid isn't".

"I can't breath". Sid crawls out from underneath Manny and Redwood tries to help him out. "I think I just coughed up my spleen".

Meanwhile, Diego gets up when suddenly the ice beneath his feet cracks and he looks worried. He starts running as the cracks widen beneath him to reveal water. Diego leaps onto Manny, clinging to his face while looking scared.

"Uh, Diego? Retract the claws please?" Manny asks.

"Oh, right. Sorry". Diego gets off Manny to the ground.

"You know, if I didn't know you better, Diego, I'd think you were afraid of the water". Sid laughs before Diego grabs his with a paw on his throat and growls, choking the sloth. "Okay. Okay. Good thing. I know you better".

"You bet you do. Cats and water really don't mix". Avery points out.

Manny catches their attention as he speaks in a worried tone. "Guys. Fast Tony was right. Everything is melting".

They gaze out at the vast ocean ahead of them to reveal an aerial view of the valley.

Redwood gasps. "Oh. My. Goodness". She turns around and looks at the valley. "If this wall breaks, it's all gonna flood".

"You're right, kid". Manny says before walking away. "Come on. We've gotta warn them".

"Hmm. Maybe we can rapidly evolve into water creatures". Sid suggests.

"That's genius, Sid". Diego says sarcastically before he heads off after Manny with Avery and Redwood.

"Call me Squid". Sid follows them.

"We will not", Avery tells him.

"Yeesh, this whole thing is a piece of junk. I can't believe I live here". Sid bounces up and down on the ground and a rumbling noise is heard. Manny, Diego, Avery, and Redwood stopped since they heard the noise and look at Sid, who shrugs. "What?"

"Sid, if the ice is melting what makes you think that--" Avery was cut off as the ice beneath them breaks, sending them all screaming and falling back down to the water park below.

*Meanwhile*

Fast Tony is still trying to sell things to the other animals, but no one is buying. "Forget reeds. I present you with this revolutionary gizmo we call bark. It's so buoyant it actually floats!"

"I'll show you something that floats!" A start laughs.

"Oh, all right. It's your funeral".

The herd falls on the water (somehow) and slide towards Fast Tony, who curls up upon seeing them coming, but they stop just moments before they hit him. Tony looks at Manny and uncurls. "You see, this is exactly what I'm talking about! Giant balls of furry lava! The sizes of mammoths! Raining from the sky!"

"Ah, go suck air through a reed!" says a shovelmouth.

"You've gotta listen to him! He's right about the flood!" Manny says as soon as he got up.

Fast Tony is confused at Manny's sudden support. "I am? I, I mean yes, I am".

"Wait a minute. You're the ones who said there wasn't going to be a flood. Why should we listen to you?" A deer asks.

"Because we saw what's up there!" Redwood points to the top of the wall. "The dam's gonna break and the entire valley's gonna flood!"

The animals laugh at her statement, causing Avery and Diego to start growling in anger. No one was going to laugh at Redwood like that on their watch.

The laughter was interrupted however when a vulture confirmed what the herd said. "Flood's real alright. And it's coming fast! Look around. You're in a bowl".

The animals murmur worriedly among themselves as the vulture continues. "Bowl's gonna fill up. Ain't no way out. Unless... you can make it to the end of the valley. There's a boat. It can save you. But, y'all better hurry. Grounds melting, walls tumbling, rocks crumbling. Survive that, and you'll be racing the water. Cause in three days' time, it's gonna hit the geyser fields. BOOM!"

The animals, including Redwood, scream and jumped a bit in fear.

"There is some good news though". The vulture tells them. "The more of you die, the better I eat". Everyone gasps at his statement. "I didn't say it was good news for you". The vulture says before he flies away.

"Ooh, he must've been a real pleasure to have in class". Sid says sarcastically.

A rumbling noise is then heard and everyone looks to see a chunk of ice break off from the dam and fall toward them. The animals run as the ice continues to fall and crashes into the valley.

A start quickly slides down and ice slide before it falls towards a baby beaver. The female beaver snatches the baby beaver out of the way before the slide hits the ground causing it to shake.

The female beaver puts the baby beaver down before looking up at the dam. "Damn!"

Manny calls out to everyone. "Alright, everyone, you heard the scary vulture. Let's move out". Everyone listens and starts moving out of the water park.

"Manny, do you really think there's a boat?" Diego asks him.

"I don't know but in a few days this place is gonna be a mile underwater". Manny answers him. "If there's any hope, it's that way".

"Hopefully we'll make it". Redwood says nervously.

"We will, Red". Avery reassures the child. "Anyway, let's get going guys".

As Manny, Sid, Diego, Avery, and Redwood begin to head off, Redwood suddenly hears something and turns around. She saw a big chunk of ice in the water that was creaking as it melts and turns. She frowns at it, feeling curious but also unnerved.

Diego then turns around and notices that she isn't following them. "Redwood! Let's go!" He calls out to her.

She looks at the ice chunk one more time and then leaves. The ice chunk turns to reveal a purple Pilosaur being frozen in it. Its eye then moves, indicating that it's beginning to thaw out.

Chapter Text

Later on, the animals continue on their long trek to the boat with some vultures watching them.

"Okay, keep it moving, keep it moving". Manny tells the animals.

"Manny, Manny! I just heard you're going extinct!" Sid says as he eats some blueberries.

"Hey, if you ever master hygiene, try working on sensitivity". Diego tells him.

"I'm not going extinct!" Manny says angrily.

"Hey, kids. Look. The last mammoth". An ant-eater tells his kids. "Well, you probably won't see another one of those again".

"See?" Sid points out.

"Sid, just because they say Manny's going extinct doesn't mean he will". Avery remarks.

"Yeah. They're just kidding." Redwood agrees.

"Okay, one, two, three..." The ant-eater counts his kids and realizes someone's missing. "Where is James?"

*Back at the Waterpark*

James is sticking his nose in the water and blowing bubbles. In the water below, something is moving towards him which James doesn't notice until that something comes out of the water and scares him off.

Thankfully, it turns out to just be Stu, who dives back underwater and uses the reed as a snorkel. But just then, something grabs Stu beneath the surface. Both he and the reed disappear under the water as Fast Tony walks past the pool Stu was in.

"Stu! Come on, Stu! Let's blow this ice cube stand!"

Stu's shell comes flying out of the water and lands next to Fast Tony who jumps back, startled. He yelps and looks into the Shell. "Stu!"

The shell is empty. Tony stares at it for a moment before running after the animals, getting an idea. "Folks! Be the first in the valley to have a very own mobile home!"

As Tony runs off, Cretaceous and Maelstrom appear from the water and watch them before swimming after them.

*Meanwhile*

Two ice chunks of ice break off of the dam and fall into the valley below. Sid looks back at this before walking to catch up with the others. They head through fields of grass and Sid then starts singing.

Sid: ♫Some day~♫
♫When you've gone extinct~♫
♫When you make a stink~♫

"Shut up, Sid". Manny tells him.

"Okay".

That night, they walk along a rocky cliff as Sid sings again.

♫Stop, hey hey♫
♫What's that sound?♫
♫All the mammoths are in the ground~♫

"Stop singing, Sid!"

The next day, they walk through a thawing countryside, with Sid singing yet again.

♫If your species will continue, clap your hands♫

He, Avery, and Redwood actually clap their hands.

♫If your species will continue--♫

"Sid, I'm gonna fall on you again and this time, I will kill you". Manny warns the sloth.

"Okay, somebody doesn't like the classics". Sid says as Avery sighs.

They carry on walking until Manny stops and looks sadly at a bunch of icicles. He then thinks about what the ant-eater said.

"What if you're right?" Manny asks. "What if I am the last mammoth?"

"But Manny, look at the bright side. You have us". Sid tries to cheer him up.

"Not your most persuasive argument, Sid". Diego comments.

"He can't really be the last mammoth of his kind. Can he?" Redwood asks, starting to feel some doubt.

Just then, there is a loud trumpeting sound in the distance.

"What was that?" Avery asks.

"Mammoths?" Diego guessed.

"I knew I couldn't be the last one! I felt it in my gut!" Manny exclaims excitedly. He accidentally picks Sid up with his tusks and runs off with him on his back. Manny runs through some trees with Sid bobbing up and down on his back, uprooting them in the process.

Diego follows along with Redwood and Avery. Sid judders then ducks to avoid a low-hanging branch. The trumpeting is heard again and Manny turns left with Diego and the girls following.

"Extinct. Come on!" Manny says.

Diego and the girls manage to catch up with Manny and Sid.

Sid then (for some reason) starts commentating like an announcer for a race. "And he's coming round the corner. And he's by a couple of fifths. And he's ahead by a tusk! Oh, he's beating Diego as Redwood is coming around the corner! Whoa! Aargh!"

Manny stops moving, throwing Sid off his back and sending him sliding toward a log where an animal is sitting. It farts in Sid's face, revealing it was he who made the trumpeting noise. "Sorry. My stomach hates me".

Sid gets up and goes back to the others holding his nose. "Sheesh, well, don't that put the stink in extinction".

Diego and Avery a grossed out while Redwood gags at the smell. Meanwhile, Manny looks down sadly and walks off, which Diego, Sid, Avery, and Redwood notice.

"Manny?" Redwood calls to him in concern.

Manny stops and looks back at the herd. "I, uh... I need to be alone for a while. You go on ahead. I'll catch up". He walks away on a different path leaving the group behind.

"One truly is the loneliest number". Sid comments.

As they're about to leave, small black round objects hit them on the head.

"Ow!"

"Ow! Hey!"

"Ouch!"

"Ah!"

Up in a tree, two possums named Crash and Eddie hold bamboo sticks while hanging from a branch by their tails.

"Ooh, these work great". Crash says as he and Eddie blow into the sticks and more black balls hit Diego.

"Ow!" He growls as he climbs the tree and swipes at Crash and Eddie, who scream and fall out of the tree. They run off and mock the saber.

"Whoo-hoo!"

"Missed me, missed me, now you've gotta kiss me!"

"I'll get them!" Sid dives after the two possums only to get his head stuck in a hole. Crash and Eddie then poke their heads out of two more holes.

"Which end is up?" Crash asks.

"I'd hide that face too". Eddie tells him.

Sid tries to pounce on Eddie but he ducks back into his hole.

"Hey, Ugly!" Crash shoots a small black object at Sid hitting him on his bottom.

"Ow! I'm gonna sit on that!" Sid tries to pounce on Crash but he ducks back into his hole.

Eddie pops out of his hole. "Whoo-hoo!"

Sid tries to get at the possums several times before finally landing a direct hit. "Gotcha!"

Crash and Eddie appear in another hole and laugh at Sid. They stop however when Redwood, (who took out her spear), and Diego appear behind them.

"Boo!" They both say.

Crash and Eddie duck back into their holes as Diego lunges at them. Crash shoots a black object at Diego who pounces at him but misses.

"Oh, hold still, you little--!" Eddie cuts Redwood off as he jumps up in her face and blows a raspberry. Crash shoots a black object at her as she tries to bring her spear down on him but misses.

"Hey, have some respect!" Avery yells as she grabs a stick and tries to hit them with it. She misses them and they shoot black objects at her every time she does so.

"Okay, I'm going in!" Sid says. Crash and Eddie trip him up and he lands on Diego before landing on the ground.

"Sid!"

"What?"

The possums shoot black objects at them and they and the girls continuously try to get at them.

"Nice miss!" Eddie calls out.

"Cover your side!" Sid says.

"Ooh, I felt a breeze in the one!" Crash comments.

"Just wait till I get paws on you!" Avery fumed. The weasel brings a paw down to grab them but misses.

"Smile!" Eddie shoots a black object at Diego.

Diego, Sid, Avery, and Redwood continue to try and get the possums but the popping in and out of the holes is making it difficult as well as the group getting themselves tangled up.

"Outta my way!"

"Sid!"

"I'm stuck!"

"Stop moving!"

"Hello!" Eddie waves as Diego brings a paw down but misses.

"Over here!" Crash calls.

Diego, Sid, Avery, and Redwood can barely move since they're tangled up.

"Surrender?" Crash asks them.

"Never!" The herd replies upsettingly.

"Cool!" Crash and Eddie dive back into their holes and pop out of two others. They take a deep breath in and blow into their bamboo sticks and shoot a bunch of black objects at the group, who all collapse to the ground.

"If anyone asks, there were 50 of em. And, uh, they were rattlesnakes". Diego tells the group.

"Who knew catching possums could be so hard?" Redwood complains.

"Tell me about it". Avery says.

Crash and Eddie go up a nearby hill and continue to mock the herd for not catching them.

"Big mistake, you miscreants!" Diego calls out to them.

"Miscreants?" Eddie questions before he laughs with Crash.

"Uh, Diego, they're possums". Sid says.

"Uh, I think he already knew that". Avery shakes her head.

Crash and Eddie cluck like chickens until Diego charges forward growling.

Crash jumps into Eddie's arms, now in fear. "Retreat!"

Eddie screams and runs off carrying Crash as Diego chases after them.

*Elsewhere*

Manny is walking towards a lake. He stops at the edge of the bank and looks at his reflection for a bit. "I guess it's just you and me now". He turns to walk away when a female mammoth drops down in front of him, startling him.

They both start screaming until the female mammoth, named Ellie, falls to the ground and shakes some leaves off of her. She smiled at Manny, who smiles back, happy to see another mammoth at last.

"I knew it! I knew I wasn't the only one!" Manny says happily as the female mammoth gets up.

"Me too! Everyone falls out of the tree every now and then. They just don't admit it".

"Wait. What?" Manny is confused about what she means.

"Some of us have a tough time holding onto branches. I mean, it's not like we're bats or something. We don't have wings to keep us up".

"And you were in the tree because..." He looks down and sees Ellie climbing on a much smaller tree.

"Oh, I was just looking for my brothers. They are always getting into trouble".

"Brothers? You mean, there's more?" Manny asks her.

"Sure". She answers before falling out of the tree. "There's lots of us".

"Where?"

"Uh, everywhere? Under rocks and holes in the ground. We usually come out at night so birds don't carry us off".

Manny is now more confused than before. "Huh?"

"Help! Help!" Crash and Eddie run into view, being chased by Diego, Sid, Avery, and Redwood.

The group stops while Crash and Eddie hide behind Ellie and peek out from one of her legs.

"Is that what I think it is?" Redwood asks in surprise as she puts her spear away.

"Yep! It is". Avery smiles.

"Well, shave me down and call me a mole rat. You found another mammoth!" Sid says proudly.

Ellie then gasps. "Where? Wait a minute, I thought mammoths were extinct".

The herd all give her puzzled looks.

"What are you looking me for?"

"I don't know. Maybe because you're a mammoth?" Manny tells her.

"Me?" She doesn't believe him. "Tsk. Don't be ridiculous. I'm not a mammoth, I'm a possum".

"Right. Good one. I'm a newt. This is my friend the badger". Manny gestures to Diego. "And my other friend, the platypus". He gestures to Sid, who looks offended.

"Why have I got to be the platypus? Make him the platypus". He points to Diego.

"And what are they?" Ellie points to Redwood and Avery.

"The tall one's a bird and the other one is a toad", Manny says as Avery is the next one to become offended.

"Why a toad? A frog would've been a better choice!" Avery tells him.

The possums climbed onto Ellie's tusks as Crash spoke. "This guy giving you trouble, sis?"

"Sis?" Everyone repeats in both shock and confusion.

"That's right. These are my brothers. Possum. Possum. Possum". The female mammoth points at Crash, Eddie, and then herself.

"I don't think her tree goes all the way to the top branch". Manny comments.

Ellie, Crash, and Eddie smile at them.

"Manny, brink of extinction's a bad time to be picky". Sid tells him before getting an idea. "Hey, she should come with us".

"Are you insane?! No way". Manny disagrees.

"Okay". Sid turns to Ellie while walking over. "Manny wants me to ask you if you'd like to escape the flood with us".

"Wha...?"

Crash and Eddie climb down from Ellie onto the ground, glaring at Diego.

"I'd rather be road kill". Eddie says.

"That can be arranged". Diego growls.

Diego, Crash, and Eddie growl at each other until Ellie and Avery breaks them up.

Ellie chuckles as she drags her brothers away with her trunk. "Funny. Let me have a little word with my brothers".

"Ellie, are you crazy?! We're not going with them!" Crash and Eddie complain.

Ellie tries to reason with them. "Look, we'll never make it in time if we only travel at night. These guys can protect us out in the open. What do you say?"

Meanwhile, Manny hits Sid with his trunk. "Why did you invite them?!"

"Because you might be the only two mammoths left on Earth!" Sid answers.

"He has a point". Diego agrees with him.

"Oh, I'm sorry. When did I join this dating service?" Manny says sarcastically.

"Since now, lover boy". Avery crosses her arms.

After discussing a bit more, Ellie walks over with Eddie and Crash to give their answer. "My brothers and I would be delighted to come with you".

Manny sighs in annoyance as Crash marches toward Diego. "If you treat us nicely". Diego responds by growling at him. "See that? That's the total opposite of nice". Crash points out.

"Maybe we'll have ourselves a little snack before we hit the road". Diego tries to walk away.

"You want a piece of us? Let's go". Eddie says as Crash jumps up onto him and into the air.

"Banzai!" Crash lands on Diego and pulls on his eyelids.

"I got him!" Sid then gets hit by Eddie's tail. "Ow!"

"Back! Back! Yah! Yah!"

Avery tries to break the fight again. "Alright, that's enough, guys! Cut it out!"

Diego tried to eat Crash but he used his paws to keep his mouth open. "Oh, you know the best part? We're carrying diseases".

Redwood looks at them, feeling a bit freaked out. "I didn't touch them before, did I?"

Just then, the ground begins shaking meaning the dam is breaking even more. Diego finally spits Crash out as Manny speaks. "Okay. Thanks to Sid, we're now traveling together, and like it or not, we're gonna be one big happy family. I'll be the daddy, Ellie will be the mommy and Diego will be the uncle who eats the kids who get on my nerves".

"Don't forget, Redwood's the well-behaved older sister", Sid mentions.

"And I'll be the sassy aunt... who talks crap about everybody". Avery says jokingly, causing Diego and Redwood to laugh.

"Okay, that's enough. Now let's move it before the ground falls out from under our feet!" Manny says.

"I thought fat guys were supposed to be jolly". Ellie mentions.

"I'm not fat. It's this fur. It makes me look big. It's poofy". Manny tells her.

"Oh, ho, ho, okay. He's fat". Ellie whispers to her brothers as the herd heads off once again.

Chapter Text

All of the animals are still trying to make their way to the boat. Meanwhile, Fast Tony stands next to Stu's empty shell. "Folks, escaping the flood is the perfect time to shed those unsightly pounds with Fast Tony's Disaster Diet". He rolls up to a female Ox. "You, ma'am. You look like a big fat hairy beast. How'd you like to lose a ton or two, huh?"

"Would I ever!" The female Ox exclaims happily.

A male Ox then walks up to her. "Don't listen to him, Vera. You're already as thin as a twig".

The two walk away as Fast Tony calls out to the male Ox. "Oh-ho, I also have the perfect cure for your eyesight, my blind friend". He then sees Manny, Diego, Sid, Avery, and Redwood coming and rolls away.

Meanwhile, a female deer stops by two bushes and prepares to eat them until they hop away, much to her surprise. The bushes keep hopping until Crash and Eddie jump out of them and dash up a tree. They look around and Crash whistles to Ellie who uses two branches to camouflage herself and crawls over to the tree before scampering behind it.

Manny sighs tiredly. "We'll never make it at this pace. Ellie, it's okay! You can lose the camouflage! You're safe!"

"Okay!" Ellie doesn't believe him and whispers to her brothers. "Safe? Please. Crash. Eddie. You two go scope it out!"

"What you got?" Crash asks.

"Perimeter looks to be all clear, captain". Eddie says.

"Roger that, one-niner, over!"

"Roger, over! Victory... Ow!"

Crash whacks Eddie on the head with a stick and laughs at him. They then start fighting as Ellie calls out to them. "Guys!"

"All clear!" Eddie tells her.

Ellie walks off and Crash and Eddie scamper down the tree to play fight until Eddie sees the shadow of a hawk pass over them. "Hawk!"

The possums run around before falling on the ground, playing dead. Ellie does the same thing as Manny walks over to her. "What are you doing?"

"Playing dead". Ellie answers him.

"Manny, why don't you do that?" Sid asks.

"Because I'm a mammoth!" Manny tells him.

"But you'd do it for treats right?"

"He's not a pet either, Sid", Avery says. She then turns to Redwood, who is laying on the ground, pretending to play dead as well. "Redwood, you're not a possum. Please get up".

"I would at least make a very good wolf though", she comments as she gets off the ground.

"With your skills in hunting, I doubt it", Diego says, earning a glare from the child. "What? It's true. You're not that good".

"Maybe she just needs a better teacher", Avery says. She knew that Diego would teach Redwood to hunt once in a while, but due to her inexperience, plus her young age, it was harder for her.

Ellie then opens one eye. "Is he gone?"

Manny looks at the hawk which flies away. "You're safe. Get up".

Ellie gets up with Crash and Eddie helping. "Whoo. Oh, man. If you weren't here, that hawk would've swooped down and snatched me up for dinner. That's how our cousin Wilton went".

Sid whistles and does a cuckoo motion with his claw. He notices Manny looking at him before waving nervously at him.

They carry on and Ellie speaks with Manny. "Boy, I really feel for you. I do. I can't even imagine what it'd be like to be the last one of your species".

"I'm not the last one". Manny tells her.

"Oh, you brave, brave soul. That's right. Don't give up hope". Ellie pats him on the head.

Manny sighs. He needed to find a way to prove to Ellie that she was a mammoth like him. "Ellie? Look at our footprints. They're the same shape". Manny puts his foot in one of Ellie's footprints.

"Well, how do I know that those aren't your footprints?" She asks him.

"Well then, look at our shadows. We match".

Ellie looks at them and realizes he's right. "You're right. They're the same! You must be part possum!"

She walks on followed by Crash and Eddie. "You wish". Crash says as he high-fives Eddie.

*Later*

The herd is then walking across an icy lake. Manny notices Diego is lagging behind. "Diego, there are whole continents moving faster than you. Let's go! We've gotta catch up with the others".

Diego looks nervously at the ice around him, which is the reason he's far behind. Meanwhile, Crash and Eddie seemed to have a fun time. They're running around, sliding on the ice slides, and playing around. Redwood wanted to join in on the fun, so she started to skate around the ice for a while.

She does a few tricks and Crash and Eddie seemed impressed. "Nice tricks, kid. Where'd you learn those moves?" Eddie asks.

"I learned them from Sid". She said proudly. "I wanted to learn how to make fire, but he said that skating was safer".

"Eh, at least it's also fun. Come on". Crash says. The possums continued their shenanigans and Redwood joined them.

"Hey! Knock it off!" Diego calls out to the three.

Redwood and Eddie skid to a stop and Eddie grabs Crash by the tail, dragging him back. "Oh, cry me a river, blubber-tooth tiger. Have some fun". Crash says.

"Yeah, the kid gets it", Eddie points to Redwood.

"Can't you see that the ice is thin enough without you two weighing it down?" Diego asks them. "And don't encourage her to be like you two. As far as I'm concerned, you guys are a bad influence".

Avery walks by the saber's side. "Whoa, worried much? Crash and Eddie are light-weighted animals. There's no way the ice could break under them".

"Yeah, Avery's right, Diego". Sid agrees. "Come on. The ice may be thin but it's strong enough to hold a ten-ton mammoth and nine-ton possum".

Diego frowns and continues walking. He turns to Avery, who is giving him a smirk. "What?"

"Oh nothing". she says unconvincingly.

They move on as the ice begins to become see-through as it thins out. Two sea monsters swim under them, causing Redwood and Manny to stop. They both look around suspiciously before moving on. A fin moves behind the herd from the water, causing Redwood and Manny to stop again. They hear something and look down to see Crash and Eddie running across the ice.

"Guys, I'm getting a weird feeling". Redwood tells them.

"Me too", Manny says.

Crash and Eddie ignore them as they play fight for a bit until a giant sea monster bursts through the ice, breaking it.

Everyone starts screaming and running off. Sid tries to run but the sea monster sends him flying into the air. "Mammal overboard!" He lands in the water.

Meanwhile, Diego struggles to keep his balance on an ice flow. "Whoa! Whoa! Oh! Oh!" He digs his claws into the ice to prevent himself from slipping.

Redwood tries to steady herself on a float of ice and sees Avery in the water. She reaches out and pulls her to safety, to which Avery looks at her in concern. "Are you okay?"

"I think so". Redwood responds as they both share a hug. "What was that thing?" the child asks.

"I don't know but we'd better find the others and get out of here before we become fish food". Avery tells her. Redwood nods and they head off.

Meanwhile, Maelstrom (one of the sea monsters) swims down while Cretaceous (the other sea monster) swims up through the ice in front of Manny, who runs off. Cretaceous starts to chase Manny from underneath the ice.

Meanwhile, Ellie is playing dead on an ice float when Crash and Eddie run up to her. "Ellie, get up! If you play dead, you'll be dead! Look at me!" Crash slaps Ellie's eye back and forth and she wakes up, yelping. She quickly follows Crash and Eddie across ice floats. 

As for Sid, he's struggling to stay above the surface as Cretaceous swims underneath him. He sees Diego and swims towards him. "Diego!"

Diego doesn't move an inch. He's frozen in fear and breathing heavily as his friends are in trouble. Sid dog-paddles to him and tries to get his attention. "Diego!" He looks behind him and sees Maelstrom swimming toward him.

Sid swims faster and eventually reaches Diego as Maelstrom closes in. He climbs onto Diego's ice float and tries to get him moving. "Come on, Diego! Come on! Oh!" Sid sees Maelstrom getting closure. He gets an idea and grabs Diego's tail. "This may sting a little!" He bites the saber's tail, causing him to growl in pain and snap out of his frozen state.

Diego and Sid make a break for it as Maelstrom chases them, jumping in and out of the water to catch them. However, Diego and Sid manage to reach the safety of land and Maelstrom leaves. He glares at them before sliding back into the water. Sid collapses beside Diego, relieved to be still alive.

Diego then looks around and notices that Redwood and Avery aren't with them. He sees them jumping from ice to ice, trying to make it safely.

Suddenly, Maelstrom appears and startles the girls. They scream and run away with the sea monster chasing them and snapping at them hungrily with its jaws. Redwood then takes out her spear and uses it to try and defend herself against the sea monster once it got too close.

They continue running and finally make it to where Diego and Sid were. "Whew. That was scary". Redwood said while panting.

Avery nods, but then her expression turns worried. "...Weren't there two of them?" she asks.

Meanwhile, Manny is walking on an ice float and looks around for Cretaceous, who is nowhere in sight until it jumps out of the water in front of Manny. He backs away from it and the ice tilts because of his weight. Cretaceous uses this to its advantage and jumps into the air. It opens its hungry jaws but they get stuck on Manny's tusks which wedge its mouth open.

Manny sees Ellie looking at him worriedly and puts on a determined look. He swings Cretaceous and throws it off, sending it flying over a chunk of ice and back into the water. Manny glares at it and Maelstrom before the duo swims away. Manny heads over to Sid, Diego, Avery, and Redwood.

"What in the animal kingdom was that?!" Sid asks, still in shock.

"I don't know but from now on, land safe. Water not safe". Diego says.

"Agreed", Avery and Redwood say at the same time. They begin to walk away from the water's edge and over to Ellie, Crash and Eddie.

"That was the bravest thing I've ever seen". Ellie tells Manny.

"It was nothing really. I, uh..."

Ellie cuts Manny off. "Oh, it's not a compliment. To a possum, bravery is just dumb".

Both Crash and Eddie agreed. "Yeah, we're spineless".

"Lily-livered".

"Maybe mammoths are going extinct because they put themselves in danger too often. Maybe you should run away more". Ellie says.

"Good point". Manny says sarcastically. "Thanks for the advice".

"Happy to help", Ellie walks away, leaving Manny fuming in anger.

"Do you believe her?!" He mimics Ellie. "Bravery is just dumb. Maybe you should run away". He speaks in his normal voice again. "She's infuriating and stubborn and narrow-minded!"

"Ooh, you like her". Sid teases.

"I do not!" Manny claims.

"Oooh, somebody's hiding his crush~". Avery joins in.

"♫Manny and Ellie, sitting near a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!♫" Redwood starts singing.

Manny continues to deny it. "Would you guys stop that?! I said, I do not!"

"Oh, don't worry. Your secret's safe with us". Sid says before turning to Diego. "Oh, and so is yours".

"What secret?" Diego asks.

"You know, the one where you can't swim?" Sid answers.

"That's ridiculous".

"Fine but we're living in a melting world, buddy. You're gonna have to face your fear sooner or later". Avery explains.

*A Few Moments Later*

As they continued their journey, a tree trunk is rolled to the edge of a cliff by Crash and Eddie.

"Almost there. Okay. Ready, Eddie?" Crash asks.

"Set. Let's roll!"

They push the trunk over the edge and Crash jumps in. "Yee-haw!"

"Wait for me!" Eddie jumps onto the log and runs on it as they roll down the hill. They pass Manny, Sid, Diego, Avery, and Redwood, followed by Ellie, who is also riding a log.

The possum's log hits a tree while Ellie goes up and over it and carries on. "No brakes! Gotta roll! Meet you at the other end!"

"So, you think she's the girl for me?" Manny asks his friends.

"Oh, yeah. She's tons of fun and you're no fun at all". Sid answers. "She completes you".

"Yeah". Avery agrees. "It's oblivious that she's the perfect choice for you. And you should be happy that you've found another mammoth after fearing that you might be the last one".

Crash and Eddie then stumble out of their log. They go to high-five but Eddie misses.

"Hey, hey, Manny! Can you pull back the tree and shoot me into the pond?" Crash asks.

"No". He answered.

"Oh, come on".

"Now, how do you expect to impress Ellie with that attitude?!" Sid questions the mammoth.

"I don't wanna impress her!" Manny claims.

"Then why are you trying so hard to convince her that she's a mammoth?"

"Because that's what she is! I don't care if she thinks she's a possum! You can't be two things!"

"On the contrary, Man-Fer-Red. Tell that to the bullfrog, the chickenhawk, or turtle-dove".

"So you can be two things. Ellie could be a possum-mammoth". Redwood states.

"And some creatures can have two species names into one. So, get used to it". Avery mentions.

"They're not gonna let up on you". Diego tells Manny. "It'II be easier on all of us if you just go with it".

Manny sighs as he goes over to Crash, who is swinging on his tail from a branch with Eddie pushing him. "So what do you want me to do?"

"Pull back the tree and shoot me into the pond". Crash instructs him.

Manny cocks an eyebrow. "I don't know".

"Um, I don't think that's very safe, Crash". Redwood looks at how far the pond is from where they were. "You could get hurt".

"Well Red, if Manny is too lame to do it, we could get Ellie". Crash tells her.

"No, no, I can do it. I can do it". Manny wraps his trunk around the tree and pulls it back. "Have you done this before?"

"Ha, only a million times!" Crash answers.

"Well, that explains a lot", Avery comments.

Manny pulls back the tree further until he pins it to the ground with his foot.

"Perfect! Fire!"

Manny lets go of the tree sending Crash soaring into the air, leaving bits of his fur to fall to the ground. "I can fly!" Crash soars past Ellie. "♫I believe I can fly!~♫" He then hits a tree trunk and peels off, leaving a possum-shaped print on the truck. He lands on the ground, unconscious as pinecones fall around him.

Eddie yelps and runs toward his brother. "Crash!"

Manny, Sid, Diego, Avery, and Redwood follow him, all of them feeling worried.

"Crash! Crash!" Eddie tries to feel Crash's pulse. "Crash are you okay?"

"What happened?" Ellie asks.

"Manny shot him out of a tree!" Eddie answers.

Ellie turns to Manny, feeling upset. "What's wrong with you?"

"He said he could it!" Manny tells her.

"And you listened to him!"

Eddie tries to speak to his passed-out brother. "Crash! Whatever you do, don't go into the light!"

"Can I help in any way here?" Manny asks.

"You've done enough". Ellie responds to him, still upset.

Manny walks over to his friends and scowls at them "Are you happy now?"

"He's not really dead, is he?" Redwood asks.

"I'm not so sure". Avery says. "Then again, would it really be a bad thing?" She then gets a mad look from her friends.

"Crash! Crash! Don't leave me! Who's gonna watch my back? Who's going to be my wingman of mayhem?" Eddie then starts to cry dramatically. "Who's gonna roll in that dung patch with me?!"

"Dung patch?" Crash says as he wakes up. "Wait. My legs! I can stand!"

"He can stand!" Eddie exclaims happily, relieved that his brother was alright.

"I can run!"

"He can run! It's a miracle!"

Ellie starts cheering with them. "Hallelujah! Yee-haw! Oh, yeah!" But she stops when she sees the others staring at her. "What I can say? They're boys! They make my life a little adventure!" Ellie then angrily goes to Crash and Eddie. "You guys are so dead! Thanks for embarrassing me!"

Manny, Sid, Diego, Avery, and Redwood all cringe as Ellie hits her brothers off-screen.

Chapter Text

As evening fell, Manny pushes some trees out of the way with his trunk. Sid pulls a twig from a trunk and fell over. As Manny picks up another log, he saw Ellie playing with Crash and Eddie.

"She's not half bad". Says Diego. As Manny swings the log, Diego and Redwood duck but Sid gets hit. "Crazy and confused but sweet".

"So?" Manny swings the log again, Diego and Redwood duck again but it hits Sid again.

"So what's holding you back?" Diego asks.

Manny puts the log down and looks down sadly as he answers. "My family".

He goes to pick up another tree when Sid pops out. "You can have that again you know".

"No, Sid. I can't!" Manny swings the log with Sid still clinging on.

"Okay, okay! But-but, think about it. I mean if you let this chance go, you're letting your whole species go and that's just... that's just... selfish!"

Manny glares and swings the tree away with Sid still on it. The log lands with Sid inside a hole in it with his legs in the air. "I think I'm starting to get through to him", he says.

"Yep, keep telling yourself that", Avery says as she walks by.

"Let's just give Manny some time to think about it". Redwood suggests. "I may not know how love works, but I do know that it might need to take some time".

Meanwhile, Ellie is chasing Crash and Eddie but then gets stuck between two trees. She tries to get out but can't.

Manny walks towards her. "Need help?"

"No, no!" Ellie denies. "Just catching my breath".

"You're stuck".

"I am not".

"Alright. Then let's go". He starts to walk away.

"I can't". Ellie tells Manny, making him stop with a smirk on his face. "I'm stuck".

Manny helps her out by picking up one of the trees with his trunk. "Don't you think that picking them up like this would be easier?"

The tree falls through some leafy branches. Ellie narrows her eyes and starts walking towards it.

"Ellie?" Manny starts to follow her.

Sid, Diego, Avery, and Redwood look back to see Manny and Ellie walking away into the woods. Smiling, they move on.

Ellie and Manny continue walking until they come to a clearing. Ellie looks around, as it seems familiar to her. "I know this place".

She looks up at a willow branch and remembers seeing it all icy and covered in snow. Then Ellie sees a tree nearby. She remembers the tree covered in snow for a vivid moment before staring at it harder.

*Flashback*

The snow-covered tree memory happens again and this time, a younger Ellie as a calf is seen walking alone next to it and trumpeting as if to call to someone but gets no reply.

She looks around and spots the willow tree. She goes over to it and takes shelter beneath its snow-covered branches before curling up and falling asleep.

As Ellie sleeps, a female possum drops down from the snow-covered branches and smiles at Ellie. Ellie looks up at her and smiles back. Crash and Eddie as babies peek out from behind the female possum's back and look at Ellie who stands up, smiling at them.

*End of Flashback*

The flashback ends to reveal Ellie with her eyes closed under the same tree. She opens her eyes and looks at Manny who standing near the tree and smiling at her. He looks down at her footprints. Ellie puts her foot in one of the footprints and saw that Manny is right about her being a mammoth all along as they look happily at each other.

Soon, they walk side by side together. "You know, deep down, I knew I was different. I was a little bigger than the other possum kids". Manny gives her a look when she says that". Okay, a lot bigger. Oh. Now I understand why the possum boys didn't find me appealing!"

"That's too bad. Because, as far as mammoths go, you're... you know..."

"What?" Ellie curiously asks him.

Manny awkwardly tries to give her an answer. "Well, um, uh, well. Attractive".

"Really?"

"Sure".

"What about me is attractive?"

"Huh? Wha? Oh. Well, uh, I don't know". Manny stammers. "Well...there's your uh, butt".

"What about it?"

"It's... big?"

Ellie glares at first but then smiles, feeling flattered. "Oh, you're just saying that".

Manny just goes with it. "No, no. No, I mean it. It's huge! Biggest darn butt I've ever seen".

"Aww. That is really sweet. What a crazy day. This morning, I woke up a possum. And now, I'm a mammoth".

*Meanwhile*

Sid is humming as got two rocks and rub them to make fire. He then hears rustling in the bushes but sees nothing, so he got another rock and rubs them together, making sparks fly, much to his happiness. Then he heard the bush rustle again. He turn to look at it as Diego, Avery, and Redwood arrived.

"Boy, Manny sure took a big leap with Ellie today". Sid comments about earlier.

"Sure did". Diego agrees.

"You know. He stood on the shore of uncertainty and dove right in. Splash. Kinda brave, huh? The way he faced his fear?" Sid says, trying to hint at Diego's fear of water.

Redwood doesn't catch on and instead goes back to the 'Manny & Ellie' topic. "Yeah. Maybe he's finally giving Ellie a chance to fall in love with her. You know, despite her possum beliefs".

"And hopefully he'll see that he can have another chance of having love and a family again". Avery adds, before turning to Diego with a smirk on her face. "After all, you shouldn't let fear hold you back".

"I wouldn't know". Diego tells them as he gets up. "Sabers don't feel fear".

"Oh, come on. All animals feel fear. It's what separates us from say, rocks. Rocks have no fear". Sid throws a rock into a nearby stream. "And they sink".

"What are you getting at, Sid?" Diego asks.

"It may surprise you all to know that I too have experienced fear".

"No. Really?" Avery sarcastically says.

"Oh, yeah, yeah. As impossible as it seems, the sloth has natural enemies that would like to, harm, or otherwise, kill us!" Sid explains.

"But why do they want to harm or kill you, Sid?" Redwood asks with some sarcasm in her voice. At this point, Avery and Diego's attitude was rubbing off on her.

"Well, jealousy mostly". Sid answers. "But the point is that fear is natural".

Diego moves toward Sid's face in a mid-threatening glare. "Fear is for prey".

"Well then, you're letting the water make you its prey". Avery points out.

"Yeah. And besides, I used to be scared of things too, remember?", Redwood mentions. "I feared you and Manny, that volcano, and the dodos. But as time went on, I got braver and started facing my fears. You can do the same. I believe in you".

Diego smiles at Redwood's support before Sid catches their attention while standing on a log. "Just jump in and trust your instincts". He jumps into the bushes and swims through them. "You know, most animals can swim as babies". He dives deeper into the bushes and appears on another log. "And for a tiger, it's like crawling on your belly to stalk helpless prey". Sid jumps off the log and appears beside Diego, Avery, and Redwood on vines. "But faster, OK? Now, claw, kick, claw, kick. I'm stalking the prey. Claw, kick. Now, I look back over my shoulder to see if I'm being followed and I'm breathing". He breathes in and out heavily two times. "And I'm stalking and I'm stalking and I'm... Aah!"

Diego cuts the vines with a claw and Sid falls to the ground. "I'm falling". He finishes weakly.

"Correction. You're sinking". Diego says.

"Kinda like a rock". Avery adds.

"Whose side are you on?" Redwood questions the weasel.

"No one's. I'm just here to see who's gonna fail first". Avery answers. "But I think we should get some wood for the fire now".

They all walk off, leaving Sid on the ground as he groans.

*Back With Manny & Ellie*

Manny and Ellie are walking back through the forest.

"Oh! Hey, do we do any special tricks like rollover, or do we just throw our weight around?" Ellie nearly knocks Manny over but she manages to pull him back with her trunk. "Oh. Oops. Sorry. I don't know my own strength yet".

"Ellie, do you realize that now we have a chance to save our species?" Manny tells her.

"Really? How are we going to do that?" She questions.

"Well, you know...", Manny tries to be subtle, but Ellie quickly catches on to what he meant.

"Oh, uh-uh. Did you just...!"

"I didn't mean--".

Ellie cuts him off, feeling upset. "I'm not a mammoth for 5 minutes and you're hitting on me?!"

Manny tries to justify himself. "I wasn't saying right now, um, in time. I was just saying that it's our responsibility".

"What?!"

"Uh, that came out wrong. You're very pretty, but we just met--"

"Responsibility?! Just doing your duty, huh? Is that it? Ready to make the ultimate sacrifice to save your species". Ellie says, now feeling very angry. "Well, I got some news for you; you're not saving the species tonight or any other night!" She storms off, leaving Manny alone.

*Back With the Others*

Sid, Diego, Avery, and Redwood are sitting by the fire to get warm when Manny arrives.

"So, how did it go?" Diego asked.

"Um, not bad", Manny responds, faking happiness.

Ellie walks past him with Crash and Eddie on her back, who are also mad with their eyes closed and arms crossed. Ellie steps into a puddle, splashing water onto the flames, extinguishing it.

"OK, let's go!" She orders. "We've traveled with you all day, now you're coming with us at night!"

"But we can't see at night". Manny points out.

"Then enjoy the flood". She walks off while Crash and Eddie upsettingly calls out to Manny.

"I can't even look at him!"

"Pervert!"

Manny got taken aback by this. Crash points two fingers at his eyes, then directs them at Manny.

"Guess that didn't go well". Avery comments.

"Making friends, everywhere you go. Just making friends". Sid said as they started walking, trying to catch up with the others.

Redwood then had a confused look on her face when she started thinking about what Crash said. "Hey guys, what's a pervert?"

"Uhhhh..." Avery looked at the rest of the herd, who shared the same awkward expression she had.

"We'll tell you when you are older", Diego finally answers. In reality, there was no way they were going to tell her what it meant.

Chapter Text

Later, the mist went down as the group walked through a rocky terrain. Crash and Eddie look around then run off. Sid and Diego walk along til Sid hits a stump.

"Watch out, there's a stump", Crash warns him a bit too late.

"Not anymore". Sid says in pain.

"I don't like the look of this mist". Redwood tries to clear the mist a bit but it covers their path again. "Ellie's going to get us lost".

"I think we can manage a little mist". Avery says. "Sure it's a bit dark and spooky, but just stick by us and you'll be fine".

"I guess you're right", Redwood tells her.

Meanwhile, Manny walks over to Ellie who is still upset with him. "I, uh, thought we could walk together".

"Crash, ask the mammoth why he thinks that". Ellie tells her brother.

Crash jumps onto Manny's tusk, still as upset as Ellie. "She said she thinks you're a jerk and to go away!"

He goes back to Ellie as Manny spoke. "She didn't say... Ow!" Manny hits his head on a rock. "Look, maybe if we spend more time... Ow!" He hits a stump next.

"Tell him that I need a little personal space right now". She tells the possums.

Crash and Eddie then hang upside down in front of Manny. "She said go jump in a lake".

"And possums rule!" Eddie fist-bumps Crash.

"I can hear her, you know". Manny reminds them.

"What do you want? A medal?" Crash asks sarcastically.

Redwood then froze for a moment with a worried expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" Sid asked the kid.

"I don't know. I just... I got a feeling..." She doesn't know how to explain it. "Something's not right here".

"You're probably just being paranoid", Eddie says, not believing her.

"Yeah. Nothing's wrong. You don't need to worry". Crash agrees. He and Eddie walk forward, but then they fall through the mist.

As Ellie moves forward to grab them, the ground raises up like a see-saw. Diego hangs on to it with Sid clinging to his back legs. With such a tiny space, Manny, Redwood, Avery, and Ellie keep bumping into each other.

Avery then is accidentally pushed and falls off the platform. She falls on another rock further below them that Crash and Eddie also managed to be on.

"Stop moving!" Diego yells.

The two mammoths and human do so and the rocky platforms stop.

"Thank you".

The rocks holding the platform break, making it move again and Sid loses his grip and falls down though he manages to hold onto another rocky platform.

Redwood then slips and falls backwards. As she falls, Sid swiftly grabs her arm while using his other hand to hang on to the ledge.

"You're a lot heavier than I thought!" Sid says, struggling to hold Redwood.

"Don't drop me! Don't drop me! Don't drop me!" She quickly says out of fear, clinging to Sid's arm. "We have to get off these rocks and back on solid ground now!"

The platform which Ellie is standing on starts to break underneath her.

"Manny! Ellie! Lock trunks!" Diego tells them.

Manny and Ellie glare at each other.

"Now!"

The two wrap their trunks together and walk up the rock, keeping it in balance.

"Avery! Crash! Eddie! Grab onto that ledge!" The saber orders them.

The two possums see a ledge that could be their only chance of survival and then look down to the abyss. They then both start laughing nervously. "Funny. Now, what is your real plan?" Eddie asks.

Avery then yells at them. "Just do it! Or is all of us dying here the better option?!"

The two flinch at Avery's frustration before hugging each other as they say their goodbyes.

"Bye, Eddie!"

"Bye, Crash!"

"Bye, Ellie!"

"Let's go!" Avery holds the possums by their tails as they both stretch out and grab the ledge.

Back with the others, Manny tries to make up with Ellie. "Um, uh, I'm sorry if what I said before offended you".

"What do you mean "if" it offended me?"

The broken part of the path is leaned down by Ellie moving around and it tips Avery, Crash, and Eddie up away from the ledge.

"'That' it offended her! That it offended her!" Crash corrects Manny.

"I meant that! That it offended you". Manny says.

Ellie calms down and climbs up to tip up the broken part of the path.

"You just overreacted, that's all". Manny explains.

"What?" Ellie fumed.

"Take it back!" Avery yells, still holding onto Crash and Eddie's tails, who are dangling over the abyss.

"There are other lives at stake here!" Eddie points out.

"Wait a minute, he's got a point!" Sid takes Manny's side of the argument.

Crash disagrees. "He's got nothing!"

"It was a misunderstanding!" Sid shouts at them.

"It was insensitive!" Eddie objected.

"Would you three knock it off?!" Redwood yells.

"Apologize!" Diego tells Manny.

"Why me?!" Manny asked. "She overreacted!"

"Just apologize!"

"No!"

"Do it!"

"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry!" Ellie says.

"What?!" Everyone questions.

"He's right! I overreacted". Ellie explains.

"You mean you...?!"

Diego cuts Manny off. "Not another word or I'm gonna come over there and push you over myself!"

Manny stays silent and Avery rolls her eyes. "I know this conversation was needed, but why here of all places?" she asked.

Meanwhile, Sid finally got himself and Redwood onto the platform they were on and the two try to reach out to grab the ledge.

"Got it. I got it. Aaah". Sid fell onto the ledge and Redwood followed him but as Sid sat up, the two realizes that they made the platform go up and completely lost its balance. "Uh-oh".

"Manny! Ellie! Guys! Run! Run!" Diego says.

Manny, Ellie, Avery, Crash, and Eddie listened and ran onto the ledge. Diego runs as the platforms crumble beneath him. He leaps to the ledge but as he is about to fall to the abyss, Manny and Ellie grab his front paws with their trunks just in time.

"I guess we finally did something right together". Ellie says to Manny as he smiles back.

"Hey, don't mind me. Just hanging off the edge of a cliff here". Diego chuckles nervously.

Manny and Ellie pull him up to safety and the herd continues their journey.

*Later*

"...and there you go!" Sid has made another fire, but this time he finally taught Redwood how to do it.

"Huh. It's not that hard". Redwood comments.

"Just try not to burn yourself", He warns her.

"Understood, 'lord of the flame'." the human pretends to bow as Avery rolls her eyes.

"I know we agreed to show him more respect, but come on. Lord of the flame?"

Redwood shrugs before walking away. Sid then saw Manny and Ellie approaching, so he put his paws around the fire to protect it from being extinguished again but thankfully, they walk past it and didn't step into any puddles this time, much to his delight.

Diego is sleeping when Sid pulls a big piece of bark near him, waking him up. He then sighs. "Remember the good old days?"

"Which good old days?" Diego asked.

"Ah, you know, yesterday, last week. Back when the trees went up and down and the ground stays under our feet?"

"Yep. Those were the good days. Possums were possums and mammoths were mammoths".

"Yeah, tell us about it". Redwood says as she sits next to the saber.

"Maybe we should get some sleep". Avery tells them.

"Yeah. Tomorrow's the day the vulture said we're all gonna die". Sid immediately fell asleep on the bark.

Redwood then looks at the fire and sighs. "This stuff doesn't get any less scary, does it?"

"Yeah... but you got to admit when you look over the fact that we all could die at some point, all of this danger is kind of fun and makes you feel more alive". Avery comments.

"You really live for danger, don't you?" Diego asks the weasel.

"I do... except when it puts you guys more at risk, then it's not that fun". Avery responds before curling up into a ball to sleep. "Well, good night, everyone".

"Night guys", Redwood lays her head down on Diego and shuts her eyes.

"You will never break out of this habit, will you?" Diego asks the child.

"Nope", she responds tiredly.

The saber shook his head but still smiled at the human. He felt like a parent who would allow their kid to rest near them if it helped them sleep better or feel safer/comfortable.

Diego then fell asleep himself as Ellie picked up a sleeping Crash and Eddie with her trunk and put them on a tree branch. Manny opens one eye and looks over at Ellie using her trunk to shut the possums' mouths. Manny then went back to sleep as Ellie wraps her tail and hangs underside down on the branch next to Crash and Eddie.

Unbeknownst to the sleeping group, the vulture from earlier was watching them on a branch above the herd.

Chapter Text

The next day, Redwood is the first one to wake up. She rubs her eyes before noticing that her feet felt wet. She looked at them to see that her feet were in a small body of water that was near the herd. Feeling surprised, she nudges Diego a bit. "Wake up! You guys need to see this!"

"Ugh, what?" Diego calmly wakes up and stretches a bit as he yawns, only to feel water beneath his paws. "Water? Water!" He jumps onto Manny in fright, which makes him wake up, feeling startled.

He stumbles back and bumps into the tree, knocking Ellie, Crash, and Eddie down into the water. Avery then woke up after hearing the abrupt loud noises.

Eddie looks around at the water before talking to his brother. "Crash, I told you not to drink before bed".

"I didn't do this!... At least not all of it". Crash says.

"What's happening?" Ellie questioned.

"We overslept. We need to move". Manny tells everyone.

"It's been three days and the dam's getting weaker by the second", Avery then realizes. "Today's the day it breaks!"

"What if we're the last creatures left alive?" Eddie asks, feeling a bit scared. "We'll have to repopulate the Earth!"

"How? Everyone's either a dude, a minor, or our sister". Crash points out before looking at Avery, who gave the possums a look that said 'don't even think about it'.

"Plus I don't think Avery is interested in us". Crash finishes.

Just then, Sid came walking through the trees. "Oh, hey. Hey, guys. Wow, what a night. You'II never guess what happened to me".

"I'm going out on a limb here and say you were sleepwalking". Diego says.

"Oh, no, no. I was kidnapped by a tribe of mini sloths". Sid shows how tall the Mini Sloths were with his hands.

"That was going to be my second guess".

"And they worship me! I mean, sure they toss me into a flaming tar pit but they worship me!"

Manny doesn't believe him. "Sid, you were dreaming. Come on, the water's rising faster than we're moving".

"But I'm telling you, I was kidnapped. I was... I was worshipped. Guys!" Sid gave up on trying to convince them as they started walking. "Oh, fine".

*A Few Moments Later*

The group passes through a gorge with dead trees and Sid starts getting tired. "Just can we slow down a little? I'm dying here". He then looks up to see two vultures watching him from a tree. "It was just a figure of speech!"

He runs to catch up with the others who find themselves surrounded by more vultures, which makes them uneasy and frightened.

Avery looks at the vultures nervously. "Why do I get a strange bad feeling about this?"

"They just sit there, watching us". Manny says, feeling a bit anxious.

"I wish I know what they're thinking". Sid told him.

One of the vultures, (who was named The Lone Gunslinger) glares at the herd and starts... singing?

The Lone Gunslinger: ♫ Food, glorious food...~♫
♫ We're anxious to try it ♫

Another vulture comes in and starts singing too.

Female vulture: ♫ Three banquets a day~ ♫
♫ Our favorite diet ♫

Vulture chick: ♫ Just picture a mammoth steak ♫
♫ Fried, roasted, or stewed~ ♫

All Vultures: ♫ Oh, food, wonderful food ♫
♫ Marvelous food ♫
♫ Glorious food~ ♫

As the song continues, the herd tries their best to get away from the area.

All Vultures: ♫ Food, glorious food~ ♫

Vulture #1: ♫ Poached possum served flambé ♫

Crash and Eddie play dead again before Ellie can get them away from one of the vultures.

Vulture #2: ♫ Broth made from a sloth~ ♫

Sid is trying his best to run away but falls into a pit of mud. Diego then comes to help him by stepping on a log that was also in the mud, which launches Sid into the air.

All Vultures: ♫ Or a saber-tooth souffle~ ♫
♫ Why should we be fated to ♫
♫ Do nothing but brood~ ♫

The herd uses a tree to get across a high area, and they all try to dodge the vultures, who were flying way too close to them.

♫ On food, magical food, wonderful food, marvelous food ♫

It transitions to the herd on a boulder, sliding down a hill while screaming.

All Vultures: ♫ Food, glorious food~ ♫
♫ Flesh picked off the dead ones ♫

Despite the morbidness of the song, Sid at some point started to dance to it.

Meanwhile, the vultures flying close to Redwood would have to learn to back off when she took out her spear and started bonking them over the head with it.

♫ Rank, rotten, or chewed~ ♫
♫ Soon, we'll be the fed ones! ♫

Vulture #3: ♫ Just thinking of putrid meat ♫

Vulture #4: ♫ Puts us in a mood for~ ♫

The vultures who were sitting on a bunch of boulders got off them and let them head towards the herd. To which, they all managed to be on top of them as they continued rolling.

All Vultures: ♫ Food, glorious food, ♫
♫ Marvelous food, ♫
♫ Fabulous food, ♫
♫ Beautiful food, ♫

Vulture chick: ♫ Magical food~ ♫

All Vultures: ♫ Glorious food~! ♫

The vultures look over a cliff, that the herd ended up falling off of, and saw that the group was hanging on a tree branch above the ground alive, much to the vultures' disappointment.

"There. Now, you know what they were thinking". Manny tells Sid.

The branch gives way and the group falls to the ground, making the vultures fly off into the air.

Chapter Text

Later, the group is walking up a hill, and Sid continues singing the vultures' song.

Sid: ♫ Food, glorious food~ ♫

"Sid!" Everyone interrupts him.

"What? It's catchy".

"Hey guys, look!" Redwood, who was ahead of them, pointed towards something.

As the others made it to the top of the hill, they looked to see that Redwood was pointing to a giant tree bark on top of a rocky fountain in the distance.

"We made it". Diego said, relieved.

"Yeah, we showed those scary vultures!", Sid cheered.

Everyone else started cheering happily at the fact that they'll all soon be safe.

Manny and Ellie, who were both laughing, leaned against each other and then pulls back, feeling awkward.

Then the distant sound of the dam breaking more makes them look worried as they know that they don't have much time left. Ellie started to move forward but then something burst up in front of her, making her scream and back up.

Crash and Eddie also freak out and ran to hide behind Ellie for protection. Everyone looks at the geysers bursting between them and the boat.

"That must be the geyser fields that the vulture told us about". Redwood says, remembering the warning from a few days ago.

"We'd better watch our step when we go through that", Avery tells the herd.

"Oh, it's just a little hot water and steam. How bad can it be?" Sid says.

A dodo then walks by and gets flung into the air by a geyser, and when it falls back down, it turns into a roasted chicken.

Sid then regrets what he said. "I just did something involuntary and messy".

"OK, come on". Manny disregards the danger and moves forward but a geyser burst up in front of him and he quickly steps back.

"Manny, get back! It's a minefield out there!" Diego calls out to him.

"There's only one way to go! Straight through!" Manny responds.

"What?!" Redwood exclaims in fear.

"Straight through?! We'd like to keep the fur on our bodies, thank you. We'll go back, then we'll go around. That's safer". Ellie suggests.

"No, no!" Manny disagrees. "There's no time, the dam will burst before we make it. We'll drown!"

"If we go through this, we get blown to bits!"

"We go forward!"

"We go back!"

"Forward!"

"Back!"

"Forward!"

"Back!"

Diego interrupts the two mammoths. "Can I say something?"

"NO!" They both yell at him.

Manny then turns back to Ellie. "You are so stubborn and hard-headed!"

"Well, I guess that proves it! I am a mammoth! Come on!" She picks up Crash and Eddie with her trunk and puts them on her back as she leaves the others behind.

"Fine!" Manny walks on into the geyser field, and Sid, Diego, Avery, and Redwood follow him shortly after.

"I don't know. Drowning sounds like a much gentler way to go. To be blown to bits sounds so sudden". Sid worries.

"I think I would still prefer a sudden death than a slow one", Avery comments.

A small geyser erupts beside them and jump-scares Sid. He glares at it before continuing. Meanwhile, Manny carries on while ignoring the geysers erupting all around him.

"Oh, he's gonna get himself killed. Manny, wait! Manny!" Sid calls out to the mammoth.

"Slow down!" Redwood also shouts as she tries to avoid the geysers.

Manny ignored them and carries on. Then steam rose from one part of the ground and as Manny got nearer, the geyser erupted, throwing Manny off his feet and knocking him unconscious. The steam vanished and Manny regains consciousness. He looks around but his hearing is being shortened out from the blast and all he can hear is the geysers booming. Then various voices start to pop up through his head as the rest of the herd run towards him.

'Kids, look! The last mammoth!'

'I just heard you're going extinct!'

'Bravery is just dumb'.

'You can't be two things!'

'She thinks you're a jerk and to go away!'

'Then where's your big happy family?'

'What if I am the last mammoth?'

'What's wrong with you?!'

Manny looks worried as the last line echoes in his head. His hearing then goes back to normal so he can now hear Diego try to speak to him.

"Manny! Come on! We've gotta go! Now!"

Manny snaps out of his trance and saw the geysers beginning to burst up. He gets up and runs off with the others, panicking and trying not to get blasted by the geysers. They kept on running, meanwhile, the dam continued to break even more.

Eventually, Manny, Sid, Diego, Avery, and Redwood finally make it to the boat, all of them feeling exhausted. They look to see lots of animals making their way to the boat with two vultures flying above them.

"Do not leave your children unattended. All unattended children will be eaten". One of the vultures announces, which makes Redwood tense up a bit.

The herd then went into the crowd, looking for Ellie, Crash, and Eddie.

"Have you seen a mammoth?" Manny begins asking around.

"No, sorry".

"Have you seen a mammoth?"

"No, I haven't".

Diego then asks a female ant eater about Crash and Eddie. "Possum? About 11 foot tall?"

"Uh-uh". It responds.

"Have you seen two possums and a mammoth?" Redwood asks another animal.

"Yeah, two of them are idiots and one is actually nice". Avery adds, only to get a 'no' as an answer.

Manny then taps a male Glyptodon on his back. "Hey, buddy. Have you seen a mammoth?"

"Yeah. As big as life". It answers.

"Where?"

"I'm looking at him".

"Not me!" Manny clarifies before walking off.

"Poor guy. Doesn't know he's a mammoth". The male Glyptodon comments.

Just then, everyone hears a rumbling noise echoing around them, making them gasp and stop to listen with dread. The dam is nearly ready to burst and the cracks on it begin breaking one by one. Suddenly, the dam finally bursts completely and the water started flooding the valley.

Back with the herd, they're still unable to find their friends.

"I don't see them anywhere!" Manny tells the group.

"Maybe they're already onboard!" Diego says.

Rocky sculptures and part of the path then start to fall apart and crumble down, making the animals scream and run toward the boat.

"All right, this way! Come on, get moving!" Avery tells everyone.

*Meanwhile*

Ellie, Crash and Eddie run through a rocky cavern and see the boat in the distance as rocks start falling.

"There it is!" Ellie says.

"Ellie!" Crash dodges some falling rocks. "Woah! Woah!"

Ellie then looks up and gasp as she sees a giant rock falling right towards them from above. Thankfully, the rock wedges on the two walls, saving their lives. They look back to see more rocks blocking the way they came in.

"Come on! Run, run!" Ellie shouts.

They hurry towards the way out but as they got closer, another rock falls in front of it, trapping them. They try to push it out of the way, but it was no use. It wouldn't budge.

Ellie later notices a small patch of light getting in through a tiny gap in the rocks. It was small enough for her brothers to go through.

"You guys have gotta go!" She tells them.

"We're not leaving you!" Crash says.

Ellie picks up the two with her trunk. "I'm not asking". Ellie pushes Crash and Eddie through the hole with her trunk and they fall onto the ground outside.

"Ellie! Don't worry! We'll go for help!" Eddie calls out to her.

"Stay here!" Crash adds.

"Duh". Ellie says. She really didn't have a choice at that moment.

Crash and Eddie run off to get help. As the water is getting higher, it carries Cretaceous and Maelstrom with it who both swim through it with glee.

Later, Crash and Eddie run through the crowd of frightened animals who are running toward the boat.

"Help us!" Eddie yells as Crash does the same.

"Help!"

"Somebody help!"

Crash spots Manny in the crowd and points to him. "Manny!"

The possums run towards Manny and the rest of the group, avoiding getting stepped on. Once they reach them, they jump onto his tusks.

"It's Ellie! She's trapped in a cave!" Crash tells the group.

The news shocks Manny and he immediately heads to save her. Diego, Sid, and Avery follow him shortly but stop as they realize Redwood is coming too.

"No no no! You need to head to the boat now!" Avery tells the child.

"She's right. The flood is coming and you can get hurt!" Sid agrees.

"What? No! Ellie's in trouble and Manny might need all of us!" Redwood argues back. "Besides, remember what the vulture said about 'unattended children'?"

"But--", Avery gets cut off by the human.

"I still want to help! Please!"

She, Sid, and Diego all sigh knowing that she'll probably come along with them regardless. They allow it and Redwood runs ahead of them to catch up with Manny.

"She's becoming as stubborn a mule", Avery comments.

"Don't you mean as stubborn as a mammoth?" Sid corrects her.

"Heh, I wonder who she got that from". Diego smirks, already knowing the answer to that.

The herd then hurries off to rescue Ellie. Hoping they may not be too late.

Chapter Text

Manny, Crash, Eddie, Sid, Diego, Avery, and Redwood ran to where Ellie was trapped, and as they saw the cave, they look to see the flood heading their way.

"We've gotta hurry!" Avery exclaims.

They hurry on towards the cave as the flood continues swallowing everything in its path. A large rock then falls in front of Manny, Crash, and Eddie, causing them to stop.

As they looked toward the cave, they saw a huge tidal wave soaring above it. They run towards the cave but the flood caused the bridge they were on to collapse, making Manny, Crash, Eddie, and Avery fall into the water. The others looked around for them in worry.

Meanwhile, Ellie felt the water beneath her feet and worries as it starts to flood the cave she was trapped in.

Back with the others, Avery, Crash, and Eddie climb onto a tree branch for safety and Manny resurfaced before seeing the cave ahead. He then grabs a floating log and swims to the cave's entrance before putting it into a hole in the rocks.

"Ellie!" Manny calls out.

Ellie was surprised to hear his voice on the other side. "Manny?!"

Manny tries to use the log to open the cave.

Meanwhile, Avery, Crash, and Eddie were struggling to hang on to the branch over the water.

"Help!" Crash yells.

"I'll save you!" Sid jumps off the rock he and the others are standing on. However before he reaches the water, he hits a piece of ice, splitting it in two and knocking himself out before sliding into the water.

"Great. Who's going to save him?" Avery facepalms.

She, Crash, and Eddie grab Sid by his mouth and hold on before he can float further into the water.

"You really need to brush". Eddie comments.

Diego looks anxious at the situation but snaps out of it when he sees Redwood about to jump into the water. "Redwood! No!"

"We have to do something!" She tells him. "I know you're still afraid of the water and I'm not going to let my friends drown!"

She gets herself ready to swim in the water but stops as she notices Diego walk next to her and go near the edge.

"OK, OK, buddy. Jump in, now!" The saber speaks to himself as he tries to build up the courage to go into the water and help his friends. But the more he looks at the running water and how it's getting higher, the less confident he starts to feel. "Come on, fraidy cat. Come on. You can do this. You can do this. You can do this".

"Help!" Crash and Eddie yell as Sid starts slipping from their grip.

"Anytime now guys!" Avery shouts, using one hand to hold onto the branch and the other to hold the possums by their tails.

"Come on, Diego! You got this!" Redwood tries to encourage him. "I know you got this! Just remember what Sid told you before!"

Diego does so and says them out loud. "Trust your instincts! Attack the water! I am not your prey! I am not your prey! I AM NOT YOUR PREY!" He yells as he jumps into the water and swam up to the surface, with Redwood jumping in afterward.

While Manny and Ellie struggle to get the rock out of the way, Avery, Crash, and Eddie are still holding onto Sid and the tree as the water gets higher. Diego struggles to keep above the surface and Redwood swims by him.

"Attack the water! Stalk the prey!" Diego says to himself. "Claw, kick. Even babies can do it! Come on! Claw, kick, claw, kick!" He then starts getting the hang of it and actually begins to swim. "Hey, I'm stalking the prey!"

"You're doing it!" Redwood says proudly. "Now come on!"

The water gets higher and soon covers the tree, making Avery, Crash and Eddie lose their grip on the branch but Diego and Redwood grab them by their tails and hold on to the branch. But Avery loses her grip on the possums and they sink into the water with Sid.

Diego, Avery, and Redwood then dive into the water. As Sid, Crash, and Eddie sink deeper in the water, Diego and Redwood grabbed them and pull them back up towards the surface. They reached a piece of land and flop down on it, exhausted.

"Everyone okay?" Redwood asked.

"We're okay. Just give us some space to breathe". Avery says while panting. "Thanks for saving us, guys".

Sid finally wakes up and turns to Diego. "You did it, buddy. You kicked water's butt".

"Nothing to it. Most animals can swim as babies you know". Diego reminds Sid of what he said earlier.

"Yeah, but not tigers, I left that part out". Sid confesses as Diego stares at him in surprise.

*Meanwhile*

Manny is still trying to get the rock moving when he saw that the water is rising up to his face, so he took a deep breath and dives into the water. Ellie uses her trunk to push some rocks out, making a hole in the cave. Manny pushes the log and then swims back up to the surface.

Meanwhile, the rest of the herd runs to the edge of the ground and see Manny resurfacing.

"There he is!" Sid points.

Manny swims over to Ellie's trunk and grabs it. "Ellie! Hold onto me!"

Ellie does so, but then something pulls Manny down into the water, making him lose his grip on Ellie's trunk, which went back into the cave as it got flooded.

"What just happened?!" Avery freaked out a bit.

Redwood got closer to the edge to get a better look and saw that Cretaceous was pulling Manny down into the water by his tail. "It's those sea monsters again!" She exclaimed. "And one of them is dragging Manny down into the water by his tail!"

Meanwhile, down in the water, Manny saw the two sea monsters swimming past him. Manny looks down and saw Maelstrom swimming up fast towards him. It hit him in the face then Cretaceous hit him as well. Then as Cretaceous is about to attack Manny again, he kicks it in the chin and swims back up to the surface.

As Manny resurfaces, the herd is relieved at first but then sees Cretaceous and Maelstrom swimming towards him.

"Manny! Manny, behind you!", Sid warns him.

Manny looks back to see the two sea monsters and is determined to finish them off for good, so he dives back into the water. He swims towards the log with Cretaceous and Maelstrom right on his tail. He reaches the trunk and waits as they get closer.

Then as Cretaceous and Maelstrom open their mouths preparing to eat Manny, he swims up and they bump into the log, moving it forward and getting the rock blocking the cave entrance out of the way. The rocks fall on top of Cretaceous and Maelstrom, sending them plunging into the bottom below. Manny looks down at their fate before looking at the unblocked cave entrance.

Back with the others, Sid, Diego, Avery, Crash, Eddie, and Redwood are waiting anxiously, fearing the worst. Redwood even started praying and whispering "Please be okay" at least 3 times. But just then, Manny and Ellie's trunks appear from the water, gasping for air.

"There they are!" Avery shouted happily.

Everyone started cheering and feeling relieved as Manny and Ellie swam over to them. The herd then ran over to the edge and pulled both the mammoths onto dry ground.

Redwood rushed to Manny and hugged him, while Crash and Eddie did the same to Ellie. "We thought we'd never see you again!" Eddie said to his sister.

Ellie looks up at Manny who smiles down at her. Sid and Diego watch this with delight as Ellie stands up and the two mammoths smile at each other.

"We're gonna live!" Sid cheers before he and the others noticed the water quickly rising over the ground they were on and continuing upwards. "We're gonna die!"

The water rises up, forcing Avery to climb onto Redwood's shoulder and making Redwood, Sid, Crash, and Eddie climb up onto Manny and Ellie, all of them huddling up beside one another.

They look up to see the rock foundation holding the boat with all the animals on it fall apart, sending it falling into the water. Although those animals were safe, things were not looking good for the herd.

"Well, it was nice knowing you guys". Avery says sadly as Redwood starts to hug her, feeling very scared and upset that this was how they were all going to die.

They braced themselves for the end, until a crack "somehow" started forming on a nearby ice cliff, which was split into two and began to open up. It opened wider, letting the water flow through the gap. The water begins to lower down and uncovers the rock formations.

And very soon, the water was gone and the herd was relieved and happy that they were saved from their deaths.

Chapter Text

The herd walked down to where the boat was, which had all the animals happily disembarking from it, cheering as they are relieved they survived the flood.

Avery, Sid, and Diego walk together as two kids, who were running around chasing each other, went passed them.

"I don't know, I'm thinking of starting a swim school. Sid's Squids". Sid says before he suddenly screams and ducks behind Diego out of fear.

"Huh?"

"What the..?"

Avery and Diego looked to see a mini sloth tribe down below them.

"All hail Fire King!" One of the sloths says as the mini sloth tribe bows down before Sid, much to Avery and Diego's surprise.

Sid shyly came out from behind Diego and waved. "Uh, hi?"

The mini sloths then copied him. "Hi, hi!"

The three look at each other, unsure about how to feel at the moment.

"Fire King avert flood! Join us, oh great and noble flaming one!" One of the sloths offers.

Sid thinks about it for a second until Diego steps in. "Whoa, not so fast there, OK? You make a quality offer, but Fire King has a prior commitment. His herd needs him. He is the gooey, sticky stuff that holds us together!"

Avery makes a disgusted face before finishing for him. "The point is that he made this herd and we'd be nothing without him!"

Sid gives them both a heartfelt smile. "You both mean it?!" He then pulls Avery and Diego in for a hug.

Avery returns the hug, meanwhile, Diego just gets annoyed by it. "Sid, Sid! That doesn't mean want to touch".

"Oh shush. You know you love it, ya big softie", Avery smirks.

"Don't push it". Diego glares at her.

Sid just keeps hugging them and the mini sloths all hug each other as Manny, Ellie, Crash, Eddie, and Redwood walk over, surprised that Sid was actually telling the truth about the mini sloth tribe.

They then looked at Diego, who was embarrassed at the moment. The saber cleared his throat before speaking. "Don't ask".

"Group hug!", Redwood happily says as she joins in on the hug.

Just then, everyone heard a rumbling noise. Manny and Ellie look towards the ice cliffs and some type of animals start to appear. Manny looked closer and there, walking over to them from the gap in the cliffs, is a whole herd of mammoths.

Manny's eyes grew wide as the herd marches through the area. Manny and Ellie smiled at each other, happy they are not the last two mammoths on Earth after all. The animals all look at the mammoths as they marched past. Even the ant eater and his kids are shocked that they've been proven wrong about Manny being the last mammoth.

Sid, Diego, Avery, Crash, Eddie, and Redwood walk over to the crowd and watch in awe and amazement. The animals step aside to let the mammoths pass as Manny and Ellie walk up to them.

"We're not the last ones anymore!" Ellie happily cheers as she starts to follow the mammoths, but she stops and looks back at Manny, who didn't move. "You're not coming?"

"You wanna go with them?" Manny asks her.

"I am a mammoth". Ellie tells him. "I should probably be with a mammoth, don't you think?"

"Yeah, unless..." He looks down at the ground.

"Unless?"

"Unless, I...". Manny looks at Ellie. "I just wanna say...I need to tell you..." He couldn't find the right words to say. "I hope you find everything you're looking for".

Ellie looks down sadly. "You too".

She walks away to join the other mammoths. The rest of the group looks at Manny, who seems rather sad about not being able to confess his feelings.

Crash pounded his chest with his fist and pointed two fingers at Sid, Diego, Avery, and Redwood before scurrying off to join Ellie, followed by Eddie. Manny looks down at his reflection in a puddle sadly.

Sid walks over to him. "Manny, you've come a long way since we met and I'II take full credit for that, but you need to let go of the past so you can have a future".

Avery then joins in. "He's right. And if you're with Ellie, you can have love and a family again".

Manny takes their words into consideration and smiles.

"Go after her". Diego encourages.

"It's okay". Redwood puts a hand on Manny's tusk. "We'II always be here for you".

"I'll keep in touch". Manny says.

Diego tries to not let the moment get too emotional. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're a good friend. Point made. Now, go on, scat".

Manny smiles and walks off after Ellie, leaving the other smiling warmly at him.

"Our Manny's growing up". Sid states, making Redwood tear up a bit.

"Ellie! Ellie!"

Ellie hears Manny and walks out of the herd to look for him. "Manny!"

Manny suddenly appears, hanging onto a tree branch, upside down in front of Ellie. "Ellie, I don't want us to be together because we have to. I want us to be together because we want to. And I wanna be with you, Ellie".

Ellie starts to beam with happiness.

"So, what do you say?" Manny waits for her response.

"Oh, Manny, I thought you were going to let..." Then the branch comes loose and Manny falls to the ground, getting covered in branches and leaves, much to Ellie's amusement. "You're possum enough for me".

Manny gets up and he and Ellie smile as they nuzzle their faces and wrap their trunks together. The other mammoths trumpet with joy at this union.

Crash and Eddie then started sobbing and Crash blows his nose on Eddie's tail.

Meanwhile, Sid, Diego, Avery, and Redwood watch from the distance.

Sid then turns to his friends. "Well, it's just you guys and me now. Three bachelors and a kid knocking about in the wild. Whoo-hoo".

"Fine. But I'm not gonna carry you. I still have my pride, you know". Diego tells the sloth.

"Oh, come on, buddy. For old time's sake?" Sid begs.

Suddenly, Manny picks up Sid with his trunk. "I'll carry him".

Diego, Avery, and Redwood look back to see Manny, Ellie, Crash, and Eddie behind them as Manny put Sid on his back.

"But your herd's leaving". Avery gestures to the other mammoths.

"We are now". Manny says, referring to their herd.

"Well, looks like you wanted to stay with us after all". Avery smiles.

"Oh thank goodness", Redwood says, feeling relieved. "I'm not good with goodbyes and I probably would've started crying within a half mile".

The others shook their heads but still smiled. Eddie then yelled "Shotgun!" before he slid down Ellie's trunk and landed on Diego's back, while Crash did the same thing but instead landed on Redwood's shoulder.

Finally, Avery caught a ride on one of Ellie's tusks and the herd started to leave.

"Manny, who do you like better? Me or Diego?" Sid asked.

"Diego. Not even close". Manny answered.

"Ha, ha! Told ya". Diego said smugly.

"What about me and Redwood?" Avery then asked.

"Redwood. She's more polite". Manny told the weasel.

"Yay! Me and Diego are the favorites!" Redwood cheered, almost proving Manny's statement wrong.

"Manny, you can't choose between your kids". Ellie told him.

"Sid's not my kid. Not even my dog. If I had a dog and my dog had a kid and the dog's kid had a pet, that would be Sid". Manny explains to Ellie.

"But what does that make me?" Avery questions him.

"You would be the cat", Manny says.

"Can I have a dog, Manny?" Sid asks him as if he was his parent.

"No".

"Ellie, can I have a dog?"

"Of course you can, sweetie". Ellie responds kindly.

"Ellie, you need to be consistent with him". Avery tells her.

"What does consistent mean?" Redwood questions.

The conversation continued as the herd heads off yet again. With Ellie, Crash, and Eddie joining them for whatever comes next, Redwood knew that the herd has now gotten a bit bigger and happier.

Chapter Text

*SQUEAL*

Dawn of the Dinosaurs is next, and it's my favorite movie out of the franchise. And also, I really want to thank you all for taking the time to read this fanfic. It makes me happy and keeps me motivated to continue working for everyone.

_______________________________________

Anyway here is some quick info to know before I do the third movie.

- Redwood is going to be 14 years old in the next movie, (so it's been another 4 years for her). Get ready for some teen drama... though I promise that it's different compared to Peaches in the 4th movie.

- If you want to know, yes I will be doing an "Avery x Buck" subplot for the next movie. Mainly because he's my favorite character and I know we all love him.

_______________________________________

Thank you for listening, and see you soon for "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs".

Chapter Text

It's been a long time since the flood happened and the herd has since then gotten bigger and happier. And almost nothing could be better for them.

Well... almost...

"It's happening!" Manny yelled as he runs through the forest with a Glyptodon shell full of water in his trunk. He's followed by Avery, Crash, and Eddie, who bounce over to him.

Not too far behind them is Sid, who is struggling to keep up. "Wait up, guys!" He accidentally steps on Scrat, (who was in a hole in the ground) and he clings to Sid's leg. Sid notices and tries to get him off but Scrat ends up on his head. The sloth panics as he tries to get him off again.

Meanwhile, Manny, Avery, Crash, and Eddie race over a bridge over a river, with Manny panicking and freaking out. "The baby's coming! The baby's coming!"

"Hey! Watch it!", a hedgehog shouted as the group ran passed him and a few other animals.

"I'm having a baby!"

"Code blue! Code blue!" Crash shouts.

"Or pink! If it's a girl!" Eddie adds.

"Or yellow, because you never know!" Avery says. "But seriously Manny, slow down! There's really no rush! It was just a kick!"

Manny ignores her as his nerves get the better of him. "Having a baby! Having a baby! I'm coming, Ellie". But then, he trips over a rock and lets go of the Glyptodon shell, which flies into the air.

"We got it!" The possums shout as Manny continues to slide along. Crash and Eddie run to the tip of his trunk and catch the shell as Manny manages to stop just before they go over the edge of a cliff.

Avery makes it to them and sighs in relief. "Phew. Okay, let's just relax and bac--"

She gets cut off as Sid runs towards them with Scrat still on his head. He finally manages to shake him off before bumping into Manny, Avery, Crash, and Eddie and sending them tumbling off the cliff and into the trees below, the shell ending up on Manny's head.

Manny quickly gets up and stumbles around a bit. "Gah! Ellie, Ellie! Ellie, where are you?! Where am I?!"

Ellie comes into view and looks at Manny amused. "Manny".

Sid and Avery, who both had gotten stuck to Manny's bottom, fall off onto the ground as Ellie speaks. "I told you, it was just a kick".

Manny removes the shell from his head and Crash and Eddie peel off his eyes and slide down his tusks.

"I told you! But no one ever wants to listen to me!" Avery complains.

"Oh, right. Right. Whoo! Wow". Manny smiles sheepishly before he turns to talk to Ellie's stomach. "Oh, you really gave Daddy a scare. Daddy got silly. Daddy fall down cliff and go boom-boom-boom-boom. Silly Daddy. Yeah". He chuckles before noticing everyone looking at him. "Ah, sorry folks. False alarm. It was just a kick".

Everyone groans in disappointment and annoyance. Some even shouted at him.

"You know who I'd like to kick?!"

"That's the third false alarm this week!"

Sid then tries to calm things down. "Alright, show's over. Break it up. Break it up". He then turns to a female beaver. "Oh, I see someone else who has a bundle in the oven".

"Oh, I'm not pregnant!" She hits Sid over the head with a stick, feeling offended.

Sid holds his head in pain. "That's too bad, you'd make a wonderful mother". The beaver throws her stick at him, hitting him again and making him fall over.

Ellie walks over to Manny. "Manny, we know you're excited. We are too. But you're getting a little carried away".

"Yeah. And again, it was just one kick". Avery tells him. "We know you're excited to become a father but you just need to be calm and patient, that's all".

"Okay, okay. Boy, you're starting to sound like Diego". Manny suddenly realizes something. "Wait a second. Where is Diego?"

"Uh, follow-up question; Where's Redwood?" Sid asks.

*Elsewhere*

A gazelle is grazing when it suddenly perks up. It looks around for a bit before continuing to eat in peace.

In the grass nearby, both Redwood, (who is now a teenager and is holding her parents' spear), and Diego are watching and waiting for a few seconds before attacking.

The gazelle screams and runs with its two hunters in hot pursuit. They jump over a fallen tree and continue running. The gazelle rounds a corner and is still followed by Diego and Redwood, who keep chasing it until it runs into a gulley.

Diego closes in on his prey but soon as he starts catching up, his vision starts to blur. He starts to get tired and slows down while Redwood runs right passed him, trying to not let the gazelle escape.

Diego then stops running completely and pants very heavily. The gazelle runs onto a rock as both it and Redwood look back at the saber.

"Again?! Diego, come on! That's the 7th time you've done this!" Redwood complains.

The gazelle begins laughing and gloating as he walks up to a tired Diego. "Ha! Ha-ha-ha-ha! Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh! Whoo! My hooves are burning, baby! They are burning! Oh, look at this! I gotta tip-toe, I gotta tip-toe! Eat my dust, dingo. Whoo-hoo!"

Diego takes one last exhausted swipe but fails as the gazelle runs off.

Redwood then throws her spear onto the ground in frustration before calling out to the escaped prey. "You can run, but I'll still find you and use your corpse as dinner!!"

She then turns to Diego, her face still looking pretty upset. "Diego, what's going on? You've been catching less prey than me, even with my help. If something's bothering you, then just say something".

He give her a look after he caught his breath. Something was on his mind and he thought that maybe he should tell the herd. And unfortunately for him, Redwood had to be the first one.

*Back with Manny, Ellie & the Others*

"Now? Ooh. Can I look now?" Ellie asked. Her eyes were covered by Manny as he led her to a surprise he's been working on for a while. He wouldn't tell anyone or say anything and Ellie was very eager to know what it was.

"Easy. Don't freak out the baby". Manny tells her.

"The baby's fine". Ellie moves Manny's trunk away from her eyes. "It's the freaked-out daddy I'm worried about".

"Ah-ah-ah, no peeking".

Ellie shuts her eyes as Manny steps back to reveal a playground. "Voila! Playground for junior!"

Ellie opened her eyes and gazed around in awe. "Wow!" She walks through it and admires everything that was made. There were slides, a swing, a seesaw, and small snow sculptures of different types of animals.

Avery looks around herself and becomes very impressed by all of the work Manny put into it. "This is amazing! Nice job, buddy".

Manny nods as the girls notice a mobile made from ice hanging from a tree branch. The ice was in the shape of two big mammoths and one small mammoth.

"Oh, Manny". Ellie says, feeling very happy.

"I made it myself. Our family". He says proudly.

They walk off as Sid and Avery approach the mobile, but Sid is sad to find they're not on it. "Hey, why aren't I or the other guys up there?"

"Uh, Sid", Avery catches his attention. "Maybe it's because we're more like friends and... not part of their family". Based on her tone, even she felt hurt while saying that. They might've been friends but it would've been nice to be seen as part of the family, considering all they went through.

"You guys could be on ours". Eddie tells them.

Crash holds their own mobile made from insects and rotten apples. "You'd fit right in".

Sid smiles and appreciates what they were doing. "Thanks".

"Yeah, I don't think being a bug on the mobile is my style, but thanks anyway". Avery tells them.

Meanwhile, Manny continues showing Ellie around the playground. "Of course, it's still a work in progress", He starts removing some icicles from a branch. "A few rough edges, here and there".

"I don't believe it. You're trying to baby-proof nature". Ellie says while looking at a small tree with its branches blocked with snowballs.

"Baby-proof nature? Get outta here. That's ridiculous". Manny accidentally sticks a snowball on a bird's beak and it then falls from the branch it was perched on.

"Manny, this is the world our baby's gonna grow up in. You can't change that".

"Of course I can. I'm the biggest thing on Earth". Manny boasts.

"Okay, big daddy. I can't wait to see how you handle the teen years", Avery says. "Redwood is already in hers, so I suggest you get a preview of what you'll deal with soon".

As they begin to leave the playground, Sid sees a snow sculpture of a sloth.

"Come on, Sid. I don't want you touching anything". Manny says, moving a tree trunk as a gate. "This place is for kids. Are you a kid?"

Sid is about to answer until Manny stops him. "Don't answer that".

Manny picks up the trunks and Sid touches the sloth sculpture while he wasn't looking but its head comes off. He tries to catch it but manages to put it back on the wrong way around. He then walks casually past Manny whistling, pretending nothing happened.

Manny then sees Diego and Redwood, who seem to be pretty mad.

"Diego! Redwood! There you two are! You guys missed the big surprise!" Manny calls out to them.

"Oh, right. Right. I'll check it out later". Diego tells him.

Redwood then huffs angrily. "If there is a later".

"Come on, kid. You need to understand--"

"Understand what?!" Redwood doesn't let him finish. "That you just don't care about us anymore?! Oh, I understand perfectly!" The saber tries to speak again, but Redwood beats him to it. "Just go! Because if that's what you want to do, then I don't want to talk to you anymore!"

Redwood stomps away while Diego just sighs and walks in the opposite direction she left to.

Ellie notices what happened and turns to the others. "You know, I think there's something bothering them".

Manny tries to reassure her. "Nah, I'm sure everything's fine".

"Maybe we should both speak to them", Avery suggests. "I'll talk to Redwood and you talk to Diego".

"Guys don't talk to guys about guy problems". Manny explains. "We just punch each other on the shoulders".

"That's stupid!" Ellie comments.

"To a girl. To a guy, that's like six months of therapy".

Everyone gives Manny an unamused look.

"Okay, okay. I'm going".

Avery nods to him as she heads off to find Redwood.

He walks over to Diego, who is looking out over the icy valley landscape. "Hey". Manny punches Diego on the shoulder.

"Ow! Why'd you do that?" Diego asks.

"I don't know". Manny answers. "So listen, Ellie thinks there's something bothering you and Redwood... You know, I told her...".

"Actually... I've been thinking that soon it might be time for me to head out". Diego says.

Manny thinks he understands what he means. "Okay, so, uh, I'll just tell her that you're fine. It was nothing".

Diego stops him and clarifies what he means. "Look. Who are we kidding, Manny? I'm losing my edge. I'm not really built for chaperoning playdates".

"What are you talking about?"

"Having a family. That's huge. And I'm happy for you but, uh, that's your adventure, not mine".

"So you don't wanna be around my kid?"

"No, no, no". Diego stutters.

"And what about Redwood? Out of all of us, you're the one she looks up to the most. And you're just going to abandon her like that?"

"You're taking this the wrong way".

"No, go. Go find some adventure, Mr. Adventure Guy. Don't let my boring domestic life hit you on the butt on the way out". Manny walks away, now feeling as angry as Redwood.

"I understand Redwood, but isn't Ellie supposed to be the one with the hormonal imbalance?" Diego questions.

Sid sees the commotion and tries to calm things down again. "Manny, wait. No one has to leave".

Manny heads back to Ellie, who waits for an answer. "So?"

"That's why guys don't talk to guys". He tells her.

"Why? What happened?"

"Diego's leaving".

Ellie is surprised by the news and now understands why Redwood was angry earlier as she stares with worry.

Meanwhile, Sid tries to convince Diego not to leave. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. This should be the best time of our lives. We're having a baby!"

Diego corrects him. "No, Sid. They're having a baby".

"Yeah, but we're a herd. A family".

Diego then tries to justify himself. "Look, things have changed. Manny has other priorities now. Face it, Sid. We had a great run. But now it's time to move on".

As the saber begins to walk away, Sid starts to follow him. "So it's just the two of us".

"No, Sid, it's not the two of us". Diego says.

"Are Avery, Crash, and Eddie coming with us?" Sid asks, only to be answered with silence. "Just Avery? Just Crash? Just Eddie? And what about Redwood?"

"Bye, Sid", Diego walks away, giving his friend one last goodbye.

Sid sadly watches as Diego heads off, leaving him by himself and the herd now losing one piece of itself.

*Meanwhile*

"Redwood!" Avery calls out for the human. But there's no response. "Redwood! Come, kid! It's just me! Avery, your mother figure that you love so much!" She says jokingly. Though technically this wasn't the best time for that.

She continues to look around the snowy area and eventually, she finds Redwood sitting against a tree with her knees against her chest. Her arms covered her face as she was crying.

Avery makes her way to the human and taps on her arm. "Hey, do you need a minute?"

Redwood looks up and sees Avery give her a comforting smile. She wipes her tears and sighs while nodding. Avery sits next to her and the girls are silent for a few minutes as they wait for Redwood to become relaxed enough to speak. And soon, she finally decided to talk.

"Diego said he's leaving".

This caught Avery off guard. "Leaving? But why?"

"Since Manny and Ellie are having a kid, he thinks shouldn't take part in this herd anymore and go off on his own! Leaving us behind!" Redwood explains. "And after all we've been through as a family, he just decides to abandon us! I should've known better than to befriend a saber"

Avery took a moment to process this. Was their friend really about to leave them? Was he actually going off on his own? She was starting to feel hurt and a bit betrayed by his choice to do this.

Then again, his choice seemed... kind of understandable. Lately, Diego has kind of been losing his edge for hunting, among other things. Maybe him doing this would probably help him out in some way.

But on the other hand, the herd has technically lost one of its better members. And who knows if Diego will truly come back to them.

Despite all of these mixed thoughts and emotions, Avery wasn't going to dwell on them. Because right now, Redwood needed her, especially considering the emotional state she's in now that she lost one of her three father figures.

"Listen Redwood, I know things seem... unacceptable right now. But what's done is done, and we just need to learn to accept it". Avery tries to help her. "This is hard on me too. Diego was my friend and it hurts to see him leave us. But that doesn't mean he doesn't care about us anymore".

"Yes it does!" Redwood argued. "Why go through all this danger with us and then just walk like it didn't happen?! We're a herd! We stick together! We don't head off on our own! We've always headed off together!"

"Red, calm down! We're still all together. We just... lost one member. It's not like we'll lose more people".

"And what if we do?" The human teen asks. "You know I can't accept it if that happens. Not now and not again".

"Well, then..." Avery doesn't know what to say next. Redwood has gotten more stubborn about how she feels and of course, she won't easily accept this. She maybe just needs some time. After all, she can't be mad forever.

"Promise?"

"Huh?" Avery looks at her confused.

"Promise you won't leave me?" Redwood asked. "If we do end up losing more of our herd, I just want to know that you'll still be by my side in the end. Please?"

She started tearing up again while saying this, hoping that she won't get an answer she didn't like.

Avery looked at Redwood and took a deep breath. "... I promise".

Redwood nodded and pulled Avery in for a hug, to which the weasel returned, comforting the poor girl. Avery knew that the herd was too close to truly drift apart. But Redwood needed some reassurance right now, so she did what any good parental figure would do; help the poor kid out during a tough time.

She just hopes things don't get worse after this.

Chapter Text

Later, after Diego left, Sid starts to walk through the icy valley on his own. "Alright, alright, calm down. Calm down. I'm good at making friends. I'll make my own herd. That's what I'll do". He then spots some kids playing together and decides to try to befriend them. "Hey! Mi Amigos! Que pasa?"

The kids all quickly left in response, (the bird flies away, a baby Glyptodon runs away leaving his shell behind and two hedgehogs burrow into a hole covering it with a stone).

Alone again, the poor sloth sighs and looks down at his reflection in the patch of ice he's standing on. "Well, at least you still got your looks". He smiles but then the ice cracks.

Suddenly, Sid falls through the ice and lands in some kind of underground ice cave. He groans as he gets up and looks at the spot he fell through. "Oh, great".

He then stands up, dusting himself off as he takes a look around. Feeling curious, he goes off to explore a little bit of the cave. "Anybody here?" He calls out, only hearing the echo of his own voice. "Anyone?"

Sid continues to move on but then stops and turns back when he sees three eggs sitting alone in the cave. He walks over to the eggs and takes a look at them.

They were huge, and strangely enough, they were all alone. But just to be sure, Sid turns around and decides to call out again. "Hello?"

...Still no response.

He looks back at the eggs again, but this time he felt sorry for them. "Oh, poor guys. I know what it's like to feel abandoned". Sid then suddenly brightens up as he sees this as an opportunity to rebuild the herd he recently lost. "Don't worry. You're not alone anymore". He says as he cuddles the eggs.

Later, Sid tries to lift the eggs (now with faces drawn on them) and bring them out of the cave. He looks at the eggs once again, but gasps as he sees that one of their faces was drawn to look sad instead of happy. He fixes it and tries to make it look like a smile.

Sid rolls one egg in the snow while carrying the other two in his arms. Unfortunately, the eggs are so big that they're too heavy for him to carry, which makes it harder for him to move all three of them at the same time.

Sid stumbles a bit before putting the two eggs down and going back to get the third. He was feeling very exhausted as he pushed the last egg over to the other two. "Okay, okay, I'm okay, I'm okay". He groans. He then flops down to the ground and accidentally knocks one of the eggs over, making it roll down the hill.

He freaks out and quickly places the other two eggs against each other before turning to them. "Stay here! Stay here! And you, you take care of your brother now! Mama's gonna be right back". He then runs after the other egg. "Mama's coming, baby!"

Sid chases after the sliding egg, but then trips over a rock and lands on it, fortunately though, he also manages to catch it. "Gotcha!"

Just then, the other two eggs roll past him, much to his horror. "What did I just tell you, kids?!"

Sid runs off again to chase after the other two eggs. He manages to run ahead and stops, getting ready to catch them but one of them sends him flying backwards into a tree which breaks to become a sled.

The sloth scream as he sleds past the third egg and uses his foot to turn himself round to face forward. He swerves to avoid a rock and tries to reach out to catch the egg with his feet but they jump over a rock and land back on the round. Sid sees a log ahead and realizing it's not wide enough for him and the two eggs he's holding, he throws them in the air and slides through the leg after the egg.

As he exits, the first egg lands in his lap, and the second lands on his head. He removes them to his sides and reaches out to grab the final egg again, this time proving more successful. Sid holds the eggs tight before seeing that a rock curving like a jump is ahead of him and he has no way of stopping.

He screams again as he and the eggs go up the ramp and into the air. As Sid and the eggs fly through the air, he manages to grab the first two but as he reaches out for the final, he lands on a ledge as the third continues to fall. He peeks over the edge and shuts his eyes, waiting for the worst, but no sound of cracking is heard. Sid opens his eyes and sees Ellie hanging from a branch with the egg on her trunk, revealing she caught it before it hit the ground and shattered. Sid chuckles and falls back with relief.

Seconds later, he runs down a snowy slope to Ellie and she gives Sid the third egg as Manny, Avery, and Redwood walk up to see what was going on.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you". Sid takes the egg from Ellie before talking to it. "Bad egg. Rotten egg. A heart attack you almost gave us". His mood quickly changes from upset to comforting. "Oh, I'm sorry, darling. It's just that we love you so much. Now, I want you to meet your uncle Manny, your aunts Ellie and Avery, and your cousin, Redwood".

"Hi!" Ellie waves.

"Hello little guy", Avery does the same.

Redwood just stays silent, feeling confused until Sid speaks for the egg in a weird voice. "Hello".

The human tries to hide her urge to laugh at Sid's antics and goes back to a serious face. "Really?" she says.

"Come on. You almost laughed", Sid tells her before turning to the rest of the herd. "I'd like to present Eggbert, Shelly, and Yoko".

"Clever names", Avery comments.

"Sid, whatever you're doing, it's a bad idea". Manny tells his friend.

Sid then shushes him. "My kids'll hear you".

"They're not your kids, Sid". Manny puts one of the eggs in Sid's arms. "Take them back. You're not meant to be a parent".

"Why not?"

Manny then holds the second and third eggs. "First sign, stealing someone else's eggs. Second sign, one of them almost became an omelet".

"Sid, someone's probably worried sick looking for them". Ellie takes Manny's side of the conversation.

Sid tries to justify himself. "No. They were underground in ice. If it wasn't for us, they'd be... egg-cicles".

"But still, taking things that don't belong to you is wrong. Especially if it's someone else's kids", Avery says. "You should put them back where you found them right now".

"But what if they're really abandoned like Sid said? If so, maybe we could actually adopt them". Redwood tells the others. "I've always wanted siblings after all... or cousins... however the system is going to work".

"Sorry Red, but it's still a no". Avery tells her, causing Redwood's face to drop upsettingly.

"Sid, I know what you're going through. You're gonna have a family too someday. You're gonna meet a nice girl with low standards, no real options or sense of smell..."

Avery tries to stop Manny before it got worse. "What Manny means to say is..."

"No, I get it. I'll take them back". Sid places the eggs on the sled. "You have your family and I'm better off alone. By myself". He pushes the sled away with his feet and proceeds to leave. "A fortress of solitude. In the ice. Forever. A lone, lonely, loner!"

All this talk of being alone made Redwood tense up a bit. For her, being alone was possibly the worst feeling in the world, and she wouldn't want that for Sid... or herself.

"That's a lot of aloneness". Manny comments.

"Precisely!" Sid yells once he's out of sight.

"Sid, wait!" Ellie calls out before Manny stops her.

"No, no, it's okay. He'll bounce back. It's one of the advantages of being Sid".

"True... But still Manny, that was pretty harsh. Right, Redwood?" Avery turns to the teen.

Redwood snaps out of her tense state and responds to the conversation. "Uh... yeah, Avery's right. Sid didn't deserve it. I'm sure Sid can find a girl who would accept him for who he is, regardless of his flaws".

"Well, we'll see if Sid has any luck with that and if he doesn't do any stupid".  Manny walks off as all the girls stare worriedly after Sid.

*Later*

Storm clouds start to fill the sky as Sid continues to push the sled with the eggs in it. "Why should I take you back? I love kids. I'm responsible, loving, nurturing. What do you think?"

The eggs just sit there silent, but he took it as an agreement to what he said. "Hmm. I knew you would agree".

Just then, thunder is heard and it starts to rain. Sid looks at the eggs and sees that they're becoming soaking wet and the faces drawn on them were starting to run. "Oh, don't cry. Don't cry. We'll find a dry place".

Later Sid takes shelter in a cave with the eggs. "Okay. Here, let me just dry you off". He wipes them dry but recoils in disgust when he sees that he has made the faces ugly and smudged.

"I don't know. Being a parent's a lot of work. Maybe I'm not ready".

Suddenly, the sun starts to come out as the bad weather clears up. The sun shines through the eggs to reveal the babies curled up inside.

Sid smiles at the eggs and cuddles them as the sun projects his and the others' shadows onto the wall.

*Later That Night*

That night, something is moving beneath the snowy ground, shaking it. In a clearing is the jagged hole in the ice where Sid fell through. A loud roar is then heard from under the ground and the shaking causes more ice to come loose and fall into the hole.

'Gasp'

Redwood woke up from her sleeping spot as she heard the roar. She looks around the area frantically and sees that the others were still sleeping peacefully. Still feeling freaked out, she decides to wake up Avery at the very least.

"Avery. Wake up". She shook the weasel.

Avery rubs her eyes and turns to the human, feeling tired. "What is it, Red?"

"I thought I heard something. It sounded like a roar", she explained.

"Maybe it was an animal or something "

"No. It didn't sound like an animal... or at least one I've heard of". Redwood said.

"You probably just had a nightmare", Avery told her. "Look, I understand. It's harder for you to get to sleep now because Diego isn't here. But it's okay. You're still safe with me, Manny and Ellie. And if this is because you're worried about Sid, I'm sure he'll be fine. Like Manny said, he'll bounce right back".

Avery pats Redwood's hand comfortingly before turning back to go to sleep. "Now go get some sleep".

Redwood steps away from Avery and takes another look around their area again. She knows the roar wasn't in her dreams and that it wasn't an animal. It was... something else.

This worried her and while she tried to lay back down and close her eyes, she was having trouble getting back to sleep. So instead, Redwood took her spear and decided to walk around for a bit.

It was just to calm her nerves, but she also hoped she might be able to bump into Sid, just to see if he was alright.

Although the sound of the roar repeats in her mind... but if it wasn't from an animal... then what was it?

*The Next Morning*

The floor of the cave is littered with pieces of broken eggshells, meanwhile Sid is fast asleep.

He then wakes up and yawns while cracking his back. He walks over to the cave entrance, not noticing three baby T-Rexes behind him, having hatched from their eggs.

Sid stops, causing the babies to bump into each other, and then yawns and scratches his back. The babies do the same and chirp, causing Sid to finally turn around and face them.

He gasps in surprise at the sight of them, meanwhile, the three dinos look happy to see the sloth.

"Mama!"

Eggbert, Shelly, and Yoko, (A/N: yes, I'm using the names Sid gave them, get over it), walk over to Sid and cuddle against him, still calling him mama.

Despite still feeling surprised, (and confused about what they are), Sid is nonetheless feeling very emotional and very happy.

"I'm a mommy".

*Montage*
(Song: "Walk the Dinosaur", sung by Queen Latifah)

Sid plays peek-a-boo with the baby dinos. "Where's mommy?" He covers his eyes.

Eggbert, Shelly, and Yoko look puzzled and Sid peeks through his paws. "Here I am!"

The baby dinos chirrup happily as they run off.

Later, Sid gives them a bath in a lake. "There you go, nice squeak clean faces".

Yoko sticks his head in the water and finds piranhas, which open their mouths to reveal their sharp teeth. Yoko then opens his mouth and reveals his bigger, sharper teeth, which makes the piranhas scream and swim off in horror.

Later, Sid and the babies are fast asleep in the cave again. Sid yawns and turns on his back, and the babies do the same.

Later, they play a game of Monkey In the Middle in the cave with a furry ball. Yoko uses his tail to knock it away and Sid walks back to catch it. "I got it! I got it!"

He catches the ball, which unfolds, revealing it to be Scrat. Sid and Scrat scream at each other before Scrat runs off screaming as Eggbert, Shelly, and Yoko jump on Sid and start licking his toes, making him laugh.

The sloth laughs until Eggbert, Shelly and Yoko bite his feet. "Ow!" He crawls back as they let go and stands up. "Hey, no biting! Uh-uh".

The baby dinos then whimper at his scolding and begin to cry.

Sid's mood immanently switches to concerned. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. No, it's okay, it's okay. Don't cry. Why are you still crying? Are you hungry? Maybe you're hungry. I know just the thing".

*Later*

Sid carries an eggshell piece while walking over to an Ox that's sleeping.

"Hush, hush. You mean, vicious, animal. I am your baby and this is my milk". Sid whispers quietly as tries to milk the Ox... which causes it to wake up.

Sid is then screaming and runs with the Ox chasing him. "I thought you were a female!"

Eggbert, Shelly, and Yoko run after them, with Yoko carrying the eggshell piece Sid was using in his mouth.

Chapter Text

Later that day, Sid and the baby dinos stand outside Manny's playground looking at the ice mobile.

The dinos are eager to go inside, but Sid refuses. "I'm sorry, but you can't go in. Manny says it's just for kids".

Eggbert, Shelly, and Yoko become sad at what Sid said, making him think over. "Wait a minute. You are kids".

Thinking he found a loophole, Sid moves the gate and the baby dinos race into the playground happily. "Just don't break anything!" He calls after them.

Just then, a baby anteater, (named Little Johnny), pokes his head out from behind a rock. "The sloth says the playground's open!"

All of the other kid animals cheer as they run towards the playground. Sid notices them and realizes he might've made a mistake. "Wait! It's not for everyone!"

The kid animals ignore him and trample over Sid, all of them charging into the playground.

*Just Then...*

Redwood yawns as she wakes up beside a tree. All of that walking last night worked and she managed to fall asleep on the first thing she saw.

As she stands up and stretches, she sees all the kids running and her curiosity starts to spark up. "Hey! Hey! What's going on?"

"A new playground has opened up!" One of the kids yelled.

Redwood took a minute to process that. New playground? What could they...... Oh no!

She finally put two and two together and ran as fast as she could to the playground that Manny made for his kid. She hoped that her theory was wrong.

Redwood soon makes it and sees all of the children running rampant in the area. Among them was Sid, who was trying hard to make sure nothing breaks. "No, no, no, no, no, no. Don't touch that!"

A baby Start knocks the head off the sloth sculpture. Sid then heads over to a see-saw that some baby animals and Shelly were trying to ride on, though Shelly's weight puts him to the ground on his end while the animals are hung in the air on their end.

Sid tried to get them down but Shelly sees a bird and starts chases it, jumping off the seesaw, and making the animals and Sid land on the ground in a pile.

Feeling nervous about what Manny might do if he sees all this, Redwood runs to Sid and pulls him to the side.

"What! Were! You! Thinking?!" She freaked out. "This place was for Manny's kid! What made you think letting all of these other kids in was a good idea?"

"But I didn't do this for these kids", Sid tried to explain himself. "It was just supposed to be for my kids and we would only be here for a few minutes".

Just then, both Sid and Redwood turned to see Eggbert chasing a baby Gastornis with a baby beaver holding onto his tail.

"What the heck are those things?" Redwood questioned.

"They're my kids", Sid answered.

"I meant what kind of animal are they? Are they even animals at all?" Redwood asked.

"Who cares? They're fun!", A beaver kid tells her.

"Play nice!" Sid calls out to the dinos.

Another beaver kid is then seen holding onto the end of a branch, which Yoko is holding in his mouth. "Mommy, he's not sharing".

The Mother Beaver turns to Sid. "Aren't you going to do something?"

"Why? My kid had it first". Sid says.

"Did not". the beaver kid argues back.

"Did too".

"Did not".

"Did too".

"Did not!"

"Liar, liar, fur on fire!"

Mother Beaver then gets annoyed with Sid. "What is the matter with you?!"

"I'm a single mother with three kids. I could use a little compassion". He tells her with some sass.

"Uh, Sid!", Redwood points to Shelly, who is spinning two animals in a Glyptodon shell. He whacks it with his foot and sends them flying.

Yoko is then seen pushing a shovelmouth calf named Ronald on a swing. "No! Stop! Stop! Stop!" Ronald screams as Yoko also sends him flying into the air.

"Ronald!" His mother shouts.

"Oh, that's a shame". Sid comments.

"Sid!" Redwood scolds.

"What?" He asks.

"Duck!" The human sees Eggbert riding towards them on a Glyptodon upside down and the two duck, along with other parents who were next to them.

While Yoko uses a baby start as a yoyo, Redwood tries to stop Shelly from chasing an animal. "Stop, stop!" She loses her grip and falls face-first into the snow before quickly getting up. "We have to stop these... things before they destroy the playground and eat everyone!"

Meanwhile, Eggbert tries to push Little Johnny down the slide to Yoko, who has his mouth wide open.

"Hold on, Little Johnny!" His mother calls out.

"I'm trying!"

Eggbert then shoves Little Johnny again, causing him to lose his grip and sending him sliding down into Yoko's mouth before he shuts it and eats him, causing the mother to scream in horror.

"You know, the parental guides say you should let the kids eat whatever they want!", Sid tries to justify things.

"Apart from children themselves that is!", Redwood tells him.

The playground is now in complete chaos with the baby dinos causing bigger problems, things breaking, and both parents and kids running around in terror.

*Meanwhile with Manny, Ellie, and Avery*

"Do you think my ankles look fat?" Ellie asks as they pass over a log.

"Ankles? What ankles?" Manny questions.

"Haha. Very funny", Avery says sarcastically. "But seriously though, she didn't tell any of you where she went?"

"No, we just woke up and she was gone", Ellie answers her.

Avery sighs. "This isn't like Redwood to walk off like that. She normally would tell me, let alone do it at night".

"Maybe she was just going for a walk", Ellie tries to reassure her. "When it comes to teenagers, they might need time to clear their heads".

"Yeah... I guess you're right... I just want her to be okay".

"Listen, I'm sure wherever she is, she's fine".

Just then, they hear screaming and see Ronald falling toward them.

Manny quickly catches him. "Ronald? Where'd you come from?"

Ronald whimpers as he points to dozens of animals in the distance, who are all screaming and running away from the playground.

"Oh no". Manny throws Ronald aside as he and the others head off to check it out. 

*Back in the Playground*

"Okay, come on. Spit him out". Sid tells Yoko. But the dino shakes his head and refuses to listen. "If you don't spit out Little Johnny, we're leaving the playground this instant. One... Two... Don't make me say three".

Yoko finally does so but actually spits out a baby Gastornis.

"Well, there we are! A picture of health". Sid says.

"That's not Little Johnny". Redwood corrects him.

"Well, it's better than nothing". He says.

"Oh. Maddison!" The baby Gastornis's mother picks her up and runs off.

Sid nervously laughs before turning back to Yoko, who looks away. "Come on. Barf him up".

"Sid. Redwood".

The two look to see Manny, Ellie and Avery walk towards them.

"Oh, hey". Sid said sheepishly. "Hey, guys".

Just then, Yoko barfs up Little Johnny. He groans as his mom drags him away. Yoko runs off, knocking the ice mobile loose as he goes.

"No, wait!" Manny runs to catch it, but he's too late. "No, no!"

The mobile falls and shatters on the ground, much to Manny's sadness.

"Oh, I'm really sorry", Sid apologizes.

Manny and the others looked around the trashed playground. Everything was all damaged by the baby dinos and other kids, and almost nothing seemed to be fixable.

"This place is totaled". Crash says as he and his brother look around upsettingly.

"And we didn't wreck it". Eddie adds.

"We're losing our touch, bro".

Avery then elbows them hard. "Show some respect! And also just be glad you two had nothing to do with it". She then looks towards Redwood. "Unlike someone else here".

Redwood looks away shamefully until Sid tries to defend her. "No no no! She really did have nothing to do with it! She was only here to help stop them!"

"But still, why didn't you come to us when you saw this happen?" Avery asked the human.

"It all happened so fast, okay? Besides we had it under control", Redwood says.

"Does this look under control to you?" Avery gestures to the destroyed playground.

"Well, the important thing is that no one got hurt". Sid tries to be optimistic about the mess. "Except for that guy. And those three". He steps on someone by accident. "And her".

Manny, who's feeling furious right now, turns his attention back to Sid. "I told you to take them back and you kept them! Now look what they've done!"

Sid backs away a bit. "Okay, granted. We do have some discipline issues".

"If you think eating kids is a discipline issue, think again!" Avery exclaims.

"But he spit them out!" Sid stood up for Yoko.

"Well, that's super. Let's give him a gold star". Manny says sarcastically, but Yoko didn't catch on and instead bounces up and down happily. "Kid of the week". Manny's expression goes back to serious. "They don't belong here, Sid. Whatever they are, wherever you found them, take them back".

Sid looks at him, feeling shocked. "Manny. I'm not getting rid of my kids".

Just then the ground starts to shake harshly.

"Earthquake!" A female Gastornis yells before sticking her head in the ground. Her chick tries to do the same only to knock herself out.

Sid turns to a cowering Eggbert, Shelly, and Yoko and tries to comfort them. "Oh, it's okay. It's okay. Mama's here".

Crash and Eddie run over to Ellie and climb onto her tusks as a shriek is heard. "Do earthquakes shriek?" Crash asks.

"Uh, I really doubt that was an earthquake". Avery says.

All of the animals gasp as the cause of the shaking seems to be the sound of huge footsteps getting more and more louder.

Just then baby beaver bites through a stick and looks at it puzzled. She looks up seeing a tree falling toward her. She dodges out of the way just in time. But then, a big foot falls towards her. She screams and braces herself to get stepped on but the foot missed and moves on, dropping a stick on her head.

Everyone stares in horror once they finally got a look at what the creature was. It was a massive red T-Rex! It was full of rage as it let out a booming loud roar, which made Crash and Eddie yell in fear and play dead.

Though Redwood had a different response to the sound. "That was the thing I heard last night! I knew it was real!"

"I thought those guys were extinct!" Ellie said in horror.

"Well, then that is one angry fossil". Manny said before seeing that Sid and the baby dinos were gone. "Sid!"

Sid runs towards a cave with the baby dinos to hide from the T-Rex. "Come on, come on, come on, come on! Inside! Inside! Inside!"

Meanwhile, the T-Rex stomps through the snowy landscape as the animals scream and run away in terror. A deer runs but almost falls into a river. She scuttles back and hides behind a rock as the T-Rex pokes her head around it and stares at the gathering of terrified animals.

"Nobody... move... a muscle". Manny whispers to the others.

Everyone stares silently in terror at the T-Rex as she stares back. Just when it looks like things will be fine, a hedgehog runs away screaming in terror. Seeing this, the T-Rex bursts through a rock bridge and the animals run away, screaming in terror.

She walks past the cave where Sid is hiding with Eggbert, Shelly, and Yoko, who look like they're about to start crying. Sid tries his best to keep them quiet. "No, no, no, no. Don't cry. Don't cry". Unfortunately, one of them starts crying and Sid quickly covers his mouth to stop him but the T-Rex already hears it and looks back.

"We are poor little lambs who have lost our way. Baa. Baa". Sid then screams as the T-Rex lifts the cave roof off and drops it on the ground. She glares at Sid as he huddles with the baby dinos.

Meanwhile, Redwood sees them from behind a boulder and becomes filled with utter fear. "SID!" She looks at the T-Rex and her fear turns into anger as she takes out her spear.

But before she could run to help Sid, she's stopped by Manny, who pulls her back next to him. "Redwood, no! It's too dangerous!"

"But Sid needs us!" Redwood tries to run again but is pulled back. This time by Ellie.

"Manny's right! You need to stay here!", she tells her.

Manny then yells at Sid and catches his attention. "Sid! Give them to her! She's their mother!"

"How do I know she's their mother?!" Sid yells back.

"What do you want?! A birth certificate?! She's a dinosaur!" Avery shouts at him.

"But I put in the blood, sweat, and tears to raise them!" Sid argues back, refusing to give up his kids.

"For a day! Give them back, you lunatic!" Manny tells him.

Being determined to protect his kids, Sid doesn't listen and instead yells back at the Momma T-Rex. "Look! These are my kids! And you're gonna have to go through me to get them!"

Momma T-Rex's response to this was NOT a good one. She roars loudly and picks up Sid and the baby dinos by their tails. Sid screams in fear as Momma T-Rex starts to walk away and head back to where she came from while carrying them.

All the while, the herd watches the whole scene in horror. "Sid!" Everyone calls out as Momma T-Rex continues walking away and soon disappears out of their sight with Sid.

*Elsewhere*

Diego is walking through the snowy valley when the gazelle, that he and Redwood had chased before, sprints past him.

"Run!"

"Don't you have anything better to do?" Diego says annoyed. But suddenly he sees Momma T-Rex coming and rushes out of the way of her foot. "Whoa!"

As he moves away, he hears screaming and sees that it was coming from Sid, who was being taken away by the dinosaur.

Diego then looks on at this in a mixture of surprised and confused. "Sid?"

Chapter Text

The herd (or whatever's left of it) followed the trail of Momma T-Rex's footprints, which eventually took them to a big hole in the ice, leading to the ice cave where Sid found the eggs from before.

Manny took a look inside, "Sid must be down there".

"Well, he's dead". Crash said.

"Real shame". Eddie added.

"He will be missed".

The two start to walk away but Ellie stops them. "Oh, no, no, no, no. Not so fast".

"Okay, Ellie, this is where I draw the line". Manny says. "You, Crash, Eddie, Avery, and Redwood back to the village".

Ellie scoffs and walks inside the cave. "Yeah. That's gonna happen".

"Ellie, you saw that thing! This is gonna be dangerous!" Manny warns her, but she still doesn't listen.

"Talk to the trunk!"

Redwood starts to walk too but Manny blocks her with his trunk. "Okay, you especially can NOT come with us".

"What?!" Redwood exclaimed. "Come on! You can't keep stopping me from trying to help you guys! If you didn't do that earlier, I could've been able to save Sid!"

"Or you could've been killed and I'm not going to allow that!" Manny argues back. "Just go back to the village and wait for us to come back".

"But what if you never do? Huh? What then? I'm not going to be a bystander just because I'm a kid! So I'm still coming, whether you like it or not!" Redwood storms off into the ice caves, leaving Manny feeling more frustrated.

He looks at Avery next, but she just shrugs before following Ellie and Redwood. "Sorry Manny. Nothing ventured, nothing gained".

"Oh, great. After we save Sid, I'm gonna kill him". Manny states as he follows the girls.

Meanwhile, Crash and Eddie start messing around, trying to make each other go first.

"Ladies first". Crash says.

"Age before beauty". Eddie tells him.

"No pain, no gain".

"What pain? Waah!"

Crash punches Eddie into the hole and laughs at him until Eddie pulls him in too by dragging him by the neck with his tail.

*Later*

The cave was a lot bigger than it looked and the walls have turned from ice to rock as they walked on.

Everyone has called Sid's name at least twice, but the only response they got was their own voices being echoed back.

They passed by a few roots on the cave's ceiling that looked like big claws, to which Manny looked at it, feeling frightened. He then stops when he sees that the cave has led them to a drop with a giant dinosaur skeleton being used as a bridge to reach the other side. And the only thing stopping the bridge from breaking was a few vines that hung from the ceiling.

"Oh, no. No, no. Oh, not good, not good". Manny mumbled worriedly before rushing to Ellie. "Ellie! Ellie, wait up! Look, if you feel anything, even if it's nothing, you've gotta tell me and then we're outta here".

Ellie laughs a bit at his overprotective nature. "Okay".

Manny picks up a rock with his tusks and puts it next to Ellie. "Oh, we need a code word. Yeah. Something that says 'The baby's coming!'."

"Hmm. How about 'AAAAAH! THE BABY'S COMING!'? How's that?"

"Uh, too long. We need something short and punchy, like uh, 'Peaches!'."

"Peaches?" Ellie questions.

"I love peaches. They're sweet and round and fuzzy just like you". Manny explains sweetly.

"So, you think she's round?" Avery asks him.

Manny tries to cover up his mistake. "Uh, round is good. Round is foxy".

He then hears something and looks around, feeling as scared as the others do. "Stay close". Manny tells everyone.

As they move on, something moves behind them, however, they don't notice. They soon make it to the end of the cave but weren't prepared for what they saw next.

Instead of an icy valley, what was on the other side had a huge forest, filled with tons of tall trees, a variety of exotic plants, and lots of vegetation. There were a couple of waterfalls, and there was a ceiling where the sky should've been. But the part that was the most surprising was that many different types of dinosaurs that were roaming everywhere.

The place was truly amazing, and the herd began taking in their new surroundings, feeling fascinated with what they saw.

"Are you guys having the same dream I am?" Crash asked dumbly.

"We've been living above an entire world. And we didn't even know it". Ellie said.

"But dinosaurs are supposed to be extinct. How are they still alive?" Redwood questions.

"I... actually don't know". Avery says.

As they look out over the lost world of dinosaurs, a spike object moves behind them, with only Crash noticing.

Just then, a ball with spikes slams down next to Manny, causing them to yelp in fear. They turn to see a red Ankylosaurus that roars at them.

"Run for it! Hurry!" Avery shouts.

They run away from the Ankylosaurus but Crash and Eddie accidentally fall behind. It roars at them, causing the two to yell in fear and they play dead. However, it doesn't work and just as the Ankylosaurus is about to bring its tail down on them, Diego races in and saves Crash and Eddie from being crushed.

However, he nearly falls off the ledge but manages to pull himself back up and runs off after the herd.

Manny looks back and is surprised to see the saber. "Diego?! What are you doing here?!"

"Sight-seeing!" Diego responded sarcastically before dodging the Ankylosaurus' tail. "I'm looking for Sid! Same as you!"

"Well, aren't you noble?!" Redwood spoke back, still feeling upset at him from earlier.

"Will you guys quit it?!" Avery shouts at them. "You guys can fight it out later, but right now we have more important things to worry about!"

"She's right, guys! We need all the help we can get!" Ellie tells them.

They soon stop when they come to a dead end. The Ankylosaurus approaches them menacingly and Diego charges at it and growls to intimidate it, only for the dinosaur to roar loudly at him.

Diego cowers and runs back to the others. "Never mind".

The Ankylosaurus starts to move towards them but gets its tail stuck between two rocks. Ellie then sees a Sultasaurus munching on leaves and gets an idea. She picks some leaves up in her trunk and goes over to the edge.

"Here boy! Here!" She leads the Sultasaurus over to them and it comes to chew on the leaves. "Come on! Good boy! Come on!" The Sultasaurus then bends its neck, forming a slide to safety. "Climb on!"

"Are you nuts?!" Manny yells. "We're not getting on that thing!"

"It's either this dinosaur or that one!" Ellie points at the Ankylosaurus, which manages to get its tail free. "Pregnant lady wants to live!" She quickly slides down the Sultasaurus. "Yabba-Dabba-Doo!"

"Sorry guys, but I want to be alive when we find Sid", Redwood says before having Avery jump on her shoulder and sliding down the Sultasaurus' neck.

Manny and Diego then run away from the Ankylosaurus, which tries to chomp on Manny's tail but misses as he jumps onto the Sultasaurus. He and Diego slide down its back, off its tail, and into the air before they roughly land next to the others.

"Don't ever Yabba-dabba-doo that again!" Manny says, slightly dazed from the landing.

"Uh, guys?" Redwood catches the herd's attention and gestures to the other many dinosaurs that are looking at them with hungry eyes.

The herd starts huddling together as the dinosaurs get closer to them.

"I feel so puny". Manny says.

"How do you think I feel?" Eddie tells him.

Redwood then takes out her spear and gets ready for when they start attacking. Crash and Eddie see this and whisper over to her.

"Uh, not to be rude, but how can you fight against giant dinosaurs?" Crash asks.

"Yeah, they're way too big and strong. You'II easily get eaten". Eddie adds.

Redwood sighs. "I know, but we have to defend ourselves somehow".

The dinosaurs glare at them until a horn is heard and catches everyone's attention. They all look up to see a one-eyed weasel in a tree blowing a horn. He finishes and grabs a vine to swing towards them but it snaps and he goes flying into the trees.

"Well... we're doomed". Avery says with an unamused expression.

The dinosaurs continue to growl and get closer to the herd.... until the weasel suddenly comes back and begins throwing red fruit at the dinosaurs, which gives off a yellow smoke once it hits them.

"Take cover!"

He throws a fruit on the ground like a smoke pellet and it goes off, covering the whole area in yellow smoke and blocking the dinosaurs' vision for a bit. When the smoke clears, the dinosaurs look around confused, as they noticed that the herd has disappeared.

Chapter Text

Elsewhere in the jungle, a family of Triceratops walks through a pond. The baby spots a waterlily with a flower on it. It sniffs the flower and goes to eat it when one of its parents growls at it. The baby looks down sadly and continues to follow them. It gets out of the pond and shakes off the water before looking back and continuing to follow its parents.

Once they're gone, the weasel, who helped the herd, rises out of the water with the waterlily on his head and a knife in his mouth. Meanwhile, Manny, Ellie, Diego, Redwood, Avery, Crash, and Eddie also come out of hiding.

"Dude, you're awesome! You're like the brother I never had!" Crash said as he and Eddie walked toward the weasel.

"Me too", Eddie agreed.

But then they stopped in their tracks when the weasel throws his knife on the ground next to them. He then twists his body to squeeze himself dry, takes the waterlily off his head, un-twists himself, and then sniffs at Crash and Eddie before picking them up by the tails and turning to the others.

"Can we keep him?" Crash asked the others as if he was a kid asking for a pet.

Manny looks at Ellie before the weasel suddenly jumps onto his face, startling the poor mammoth.

"Buck".

"What?" Manny asked, confused.

The weasel crawled onto Manny's head as he spoke. "The name's Buck. Short for Buckminster". He then inspects Manny's trunk. "Long for Bah". He added.

He then opens Diego's mouth and touches his long fangs. "Hmm. A little dull".

He moves on to Avery, who doesn't know whether to move or not, and started examining her features before staring into her eyes. She stares back, feeling a bit awkward. "Uh... Hi?" She waves.

Buck then sniffed her fur a bit and finally dropped the serious face. "Huh. Another weasel", he grins.

Redwood looks at him weirdly before he suddenly jumps on her shoulder, making her yell in surprise for a brief sec. Buck inspects her head and arm next, feeling slightly surprised to see a human of all things. "Very uncommon", he comments.

Redwood then grabs him and sets him back on the ground. "Sorry, but I like my personal space. Also no offense, but the last rodents I touched said they carried diseases when we first met". Redwood sideways glances at Crash and Eddie, who gave her nervous shrugs.

"No worries, kid", Buck says before leaping onto one of Ellie's tusks. "What are you doing here?" He asks the herd.

"Our friend was taken by a dinosaur", Ellie answers.

Buck hops back to the ground. "Well... he's dead. Welcome to my world. Now, uh, go home". He walks over to his knife and takes it out of the ground. "Off you pop".

"Not without Sid". Ellie says.

Manny stops her. "Ellie, wait. Maybe the deranged hermit has a point".

"Manny, we came this far, we're gonna find him". Avery says. "I know you're concerned for our safety but we need to rescue him".

"I've got tracks". Diego tells everyone as he stands over a big dinosaur footprint.

"Okay, let's go". Ellie walks off with everyone else following.

However, Manny stops and yells for a quick second as Buck suddenly hangs upside down in front of him. "If you go in there, you'll find your friend". His tone then gets dark. "In the afterlife".

"How do you know, o great wise and weasely one?" Eddie asked, still feeling awestruck about Buck.

Buck then lowers himself on a vine to the footprint. He licks the ground and then spits. "Mmm, yeah. Mommy dinosaur, carrying her three babies and some floppy green thing".

"Yeah, we're friends with the floppy green thing". Manny confirmed.

"You got all that from the tracks?" Diego asked, feeling impressed.

"Not really". Buck tells him. "I saw em come through here earlier. She's headed for Lava Falls. That's where they care for the newborns". He grabs a stick and starts to draw a map in the dirt. "To get there, you've got to go through the Jungle of Misery, across the Chasm of Death, to the Plates of Woe".

"Whoa". Crash and Eddie say, still in amazement.

"Well, that was very specific". Redwood comments.

"Okay, good luck with the slow descent into madness. We're gonna go now". Before Manny could take another step, Buck stops him again.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! What, you think this is some sort of tropical getaway?" He says more seriously. "You can't protect your mate, mate. What are you gonna do with those flimsy tusks, when you run into the beast?"

Crash and Eddie gasp in fear while Avery and Redwood glanced at each other, feeling more curious than scared.

"I call him.... Rudy". Buck grins darkly.

"Oh good. Good, I was worried it was something intimidating like Sheldon or Tim". Manny says sarcastically.

"Wait. You mean that there's something bigger than Mommy Dinosaur?" Crash asks.

Buck looks at the possum brothers. "Aye".

"Eye?" Eddie points to his eye.

"Aye-aye. He's the one that gave me this". Buck points to his eye patch.

"Wow. He gave you that patch?" Eddie asks, oblivious to the fact that Buck was referring to his injury and not the patch itself.

"For free? That's so cool". Crash adds.

"Hey, maybe he'll give us one too".

The two excitedly do a funny handshake while Buck was at a loss for words. He looked at the rest of the herd with a puzzled expression that said 'are they serious?'

"Welcome to my world". Manny repeats what he said earlier before he and the others walk pass him.

They head off as Buck watches and gives them one last warning. "Abandon all hope, he who enters there!"

"Alright! We get it! Doom and despair, yadda-yadda-yadda". Manny said, practically feeling done with anything Buck had to say.

Redwood only took a few steps before turning back and realizing that Avery wasn't following them. "Avery! You coming?"

Avery turned to the human for a quick second. "Just give me a minute". She went back over to Buck and caught his attention. He did seem a little weird and was a bit morbid about the whole 'danger death' thing, but he still at least deserved a thanks for saving the herd earlier. And if no one else was going to do it, Avery thought maybe she could.

"Hey, I just wanted to say, thanks for saving our lives back there. We probably would've died if you didn't show up". She told him.

Buck smiled charmingly at her before taking her paw in a gentlemanly manner. "It was a pleasure, my dear". He then placed a kiss on her paw, causing Avery to start blushing and look at him in surprise.

This was something she wasn't prepared for. A handshake or a simple 'your welcome' would've been good enough. But she really did not expect a kiss on her paw.

Avery tried speaking afterwards, but for some reason, she started stammering. "Well! I- uh- b-better go! Heh! Uh- see you around!" She hurried off to meet up with the herd, not daring to look back at Buck, who chuckled a bit while watching her leave.

Avery then saw Redwood standing in the same spot where she had called her. She was possibly waiting for her and maybe even saw what happened.

"Uh... What was that?" Redwood asked her, feeling confused.

Oh, she definitely saw what happened.

Avery cleared her throat, still trying to regain her composure. "I, uh... I'm really not sure".

She quickly left to catch up with the others, all the while Redwood followed her but also started wondering about why Avery just started stammering like that. She doesn't really do that with other people and, now that Redwood thinks about it, this was technically the first time she had seen her act all nervous... socially at least.

A few seconds passed and Redwood decided not to think about that too much. After all, it was only one moment and maybe it was just because Buck was being a bit too friendly and Avery didn't know how to react.

Besides, they needed to focus on saving Sid, and avoiding whatever danger they might run into right now.

However, based on what happened when they first got here and everything Buck had told them, Redwood started hoping that they can all last more than one hour.

Chapter Text

Later on, the herd continues to move, just as they heard an animal's scream echo through the jungle.

(A/N: We all know it's Scrat)

"Sounds like a Jungle of Misery to me". Eddie says nervously.

Redwood takes out her parents' spear, feeling ready for whatever comes their way. She looks around and though their surroundings looked more than beautiful, she couldn't shake this eerie vibe she kept getting just by looking at even the smallest things like plants.

They all carry on as eyes appear out of plants around them and watch. Ellie stops, sensing they're being watched and looks back but the eyes quickly retract. "Hold on".

Manny rushed to her side immediately. "Why? What's wrong? Peaches?"

Ellie gave him a confused look. "What? No. It's just... I've got a funny feeling".

"Now that you'd mention it, I've got the feeling that we're being watched". Avery says.

"Me too". Redwood nods.

Manny doesn't pay attention and instead takes this in a different way. "You're hungry! Low blood sugar!" He looks around and spots a red fruit nearby. "Oh, there's some fruit!"

"No, Manny!" Avery tries to stop him.

Diego follows him. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. This isn't exactly your playground".

Redwood walks towards the two with Avery next to her. "Besides, it could be poisonous. Or worse; a trap".

"Pfft. Like I'm gonna be afraid of a pretty flower". Manny grabs the fruit with his trunk and suddenly vines quickly wrap around his, Diego, Avery, and Redwood's feet.

"Bet you didn't see that coming". Diego says deadpanned.

The vines then lift the four into the air and dangles them upside down, making Redwood drop her spear in the process.

"Manny!" Ellie cries out.

"For the record, I blame you for this!" Redwood tells Manny frustratingly as they're lowered back down to the plant, (which has now become large). It swallows them up and traps them inside itself.

"Stop eating our friends, plant!" Eddie yells as he and Crash run to attack it, only for the plant to attack them with its vines, forcing them to retreat.

Avery hears everything happening from the inside and groans in annoyance. "Our heroes..."

Ellie then glares at the plant. "That's it! I'm tearing it up from the roots!"

Before she could charge at it, she's stopped by Buck, (who has seemingly appeared out of nowhere). "Do that and it will clamp shut forever". He tells her.

"What?!" Ellie exclaims.

"Alright preggers, don't get your trunk in a knot. I'll have them out of there before they're digested". Buck says.

"Digested?!" Manny shouts in fear as he pops his head out of the plant before being shoved back in.

"They'll be nothing but bones in 3 minutes. Well, maybe 5 for the fat one". Buck states while stretching.

"I'M NOT FAT!" Manny yells.

Meanwhile inside the plant, Redwood, Avery, Diego, and Manny are pushing the walls trying to get free when Diego suddenly stops for a minute. "I feel tingly".

Manny gives him a disgusted look. "Don't say that when you're pressed up against me".

"Diego, there's a child in here!" Avery glares at him.

"I'm not a child! I'm 14! Technically a teen!" Redwood reminds her.

"Not that kind of tingly". Diego clarifies.

Manny then stops next. "I can feel it too".

Avery looks down and gulps. "Guys! Look!"

They look down to see the plant starting to fill up with a green liquid, (probably stomach acid). They begin to freak out and Avery starts screaming for help. "HELP! SOMEBODY HELP US!"

Back outside, Ellie starts feeling anxious. "Oh! Hurry!" She tells Buck.

He grabs his knife and prepares to go in. "It's time to get.... Buck Wild".

Buck runs forward, dodging the vines and using one to fly into the air. He falls back down and heads toward the opening, intending to go straight through. But instead, he gets stuck.

"Who's fat now?" Manny mocks him.

"Still you! You're taking up most of the space here!" Avery counter-argues.

Buck ignores them and squeezes his way in. He heads to the bottom and removes a cover to reveal two wires; one blue and one red. Holding each one, he looks between them and eventually chooses to cut the red one which causes the green liquid to fill up faster and the plant to close up tighter.

This squeezed everyone closer together and made Buck accidentally drops his knife. He got stuck between Manny and the wall, his knife almost out of his reach and him not being able to move at all. While everyone else still struggles to push against the walls and free themselves, Buck tries to grab his knife to cut the other wire.

Avery (who is closer to the knife) notices this and uses her leg to push it toward Buck. He manages to grab it and looks up to see Avery nod at him before reaching as far as he could to cut the blue wire.

Just as he was doing so, Redwood started becoming light-headed from the lack of oxygen and her pushes were starting to become weaker. She never held her breath for this long. Even when the flood happened when she was 10, she wasn't underwater for this long. Soon, her lungs couldn't take it anymore and her eyes started to close as she passed out.

Manny, Avery, and Diego saw this and pure terror was all they were feeling right now. Redwood was going to die if they didn't get out now!

Buck looked over and saw Avery's expression. The fear on her face was all he saw... or so he thought. As she was the next one to lose breath and started fading as well. This made him more determined to get them out as fast as he could. So once his knife reached the blue wire, he gritted his teeth and forced it upwards using all his strength, until finally, he manages to cut it completely.

For a brief moment, everything froze...

Then suddenly the plant started growing bigger and bigger before finally bursting open, covering Crash and Eddie in green slime and shooting everyone that was inside into the air. Manny falls from the sky and lands on the ground, followed by Diego who lands on his back, and Redwood whose unconscious body thankfully landed in a nearby soft bush.

Meanwhile, Buck uses a leaf as a hand glider and floats down gracefully. He then looks at both Manny and Diego before scoffing. "Pfft. Tourists", he smirks.

Buck then heard Avery screaming and looked up to see that she was the last one falling from the sky. He smiled as he took one step back and held out his arms, catching her easily before she could hit the ground. Avery was clinging onto Buck but was unaware it was him since her eyes were closed from fear.

"You can open your eyes now, love. You're safe", He told her calmly.

Her eyes shot open the minute she heard him call her 'love'. She felt her face heat up a bit and her heart rate beat slightly faster, but it only got worse when she realized that he was holding her bridal style. Avery then looked up at him and cleared her throat, trying to hide her embarrassment. "I-um... Thanks... again".

Instead of saying anything, Buck just stood there with a stupid smile on his face and a half-lidded eye, gazing at Avery for longer than what she was comfortable with.

"Uh... Buck?" Avery's embarrassment was replaced with confusion when he still didn't respond. She then waved her paw in his face. "Earth to Buck. You can put me down now".

Buck shook his head and snapped out of his trance. "Oh right! Sorry about that". He sets her back down on her feet and is the one to clear his throat this time. He continues to stare at Avery while trying to act like his normal self again, despite his own racing heart, (although he didn't know if it was from the danger that just happened or... something else).

"Well! Just... stay out of trouble, miss...?" Buck just realized he didn't know her name yet.

"Avery. The name's Avery", She properly introduces herself as she puts out her hand (er... paw) and shakes his. "And sorry, but trouble is all that this herd gets into, as you can tell. Hehe". She smiles warmly.

The two weasels were then taken out of the moment when their attention was turned to Redwood, who had woken up and started coughing loudly from where she had fallen. She got off the bush and fell onto her knees, trying to catch her breath by inhaling deeply.

"Oh my gosh! Redwood!" Avery quickly runs off to the human in worry and checks her over before hugging her tightly. She mentally scolded herself for forgetting about the kid. "Thank goodness you're alive!"

"Now I understand why Diego hated water before. I should really learn to hold my breath for longer than that", Redwood says.

"Or Manny should learn to be more careful about his surroundings!" Avery turns to the mammoth. "We could've died!"

"I'm sorry, but I didn't expect that to happen!" Manny argues back.

"Barfed on by a plant", Crash said, looking at the slime that he and Eddie were still covered in.

The two brothers then grinned at each other. "Awesome!"

"Yeah, 'awesome' is not the word I would use to describe a gruesome near-death experience". Redwood said while standing up and walking over to pick up her spear from where she dropped it. She saw the green slime covering it and wiped it off, feeling grossed out. "Eww!"

Ellie then walks over to Manny, who was still on the ground with Diego on his back. "Say something". She tells him.

Manny groans before speaking to Buck. "Uh... thanks for saving us".

"Buck", Ellie caught his attention. "Will you help us find the floppy green thing?"

Manny quickly stood up causing Diego to fall off his back. "That's not necessary!"

"Yes, it is". Ellie countered.

Buck thought for a moment before walking back to the herd. "Alright, I'll help ya. But I've got rules.
Rule number 1: Always listen to Buck.
Rule number 2: Stay in the middle of the trail.
Rule number 3..."

He does an intense dramatic pause, leaving the herd in suspense before speaking normally again. "He who has gas travels at the back of the pack".

Eddie then sulked and reluctantly headed off to the back of the group.

"Really?" Redwood looked at him with a deadpan face.

"Come on then. Chop-chop". Buck grabbed his knife and began leading the way.

"We should all have our heads examined". Manny grumbled as the herd began to follow the weasel.

"That's rule number four!" Buck exclaims. "Now let's go find your friend".

As they walk off, Redwood sighs before turning to Ellie. "If we almost died from a plant, I'm scared to imagine what Sid could be going through right now with all these death traps".

*Meanwhile*

Momma T-Rex walks through the jungle, still carrying Sid and the baby dinos in her mouth. The sloth is asleep but soon wakes up and sees Momma T-Rex's feet below him.

Sid yelps before looking around to see the baby dinos whimpering and about to cry. "No, no, no, it's okay. Don't worry. We're gonna be fine". He tries to comfort them but stops for a minute. "Please stop swaying. A little nauseous". He covers his mouth to stop himself from barfing.

Momma T-Rex soon stops and lowers them down to the ground. Eggbert, Shelly, and Yoko get out of her mouth onto the ground and Sid tries to follow them. "See? She's putting us down-- AHHH", He screams as Momma T-Rex lifts him back up, intending to eat him as revenge for taking her eggs.

Sid quickly grabs onto a vine, in an attempt to pull himself away from her. "No! I'm too young to be eaten!" The vine snaps and he gets stuck in her nose. "Whoa! Nice mucus! And I don't say that to everyone".

Momma T-Rex tries to get him out only to suck him further into her nose. She tries again to get him out, this time proving more successful by spewing him out onto a tree on a rocket of snot, much to the baby dinos' disgust.

Sid falls onto a branch and opens his eyes just in time to see Momma T-Rex's jaw coming towards him, ready to eat him again. Yelping in fear, he dodges out of the way and grabs another branch. "Aaah! Listen, families get complicated! Maybe we can work something out!"

He tries to make a deal with Momma T-Rex, only to dodge her again from eating him every time. "I can take them Sunday to Tuesday! Wednesday to Friday?! Weekends?!"

Momma T-Rex tries to eat him again but misses. Sid then falls onto a branch, bounces off it then falls towards the others as the baby dinos hurry out of the way, but Sid gets tangled up in some vines on the way down.

"It's okay. Momma's okay!", he reassures his kids.

Momma T-Rex approaches him again, but this time Sid couldn't dodge her. "If you eat me, it will send a bad message". He tries to reason with her.

She ignores him and gets ready to eat him again, but she stops this time when Eggbert, Shelly, and Yoko rush in front of Sid to protect him from her.

"Hah! Score one for the sloth!" Sid said smugly.

Momma T-Rex just growls and instead whacks Sid with her tail, sending him spinning around a branch and getting tied up with the vines.

"And the score's all tied up", he says in pain.

Chapter Text

After that plant incident, the herd continued walking through the jungle. And this time, they now had Buck leading them, which was honestly something they should've done a long time ago. Regardless, they would be a lot safer with him, considering how they didn't know how their new environment worked as well as the dinosaurs living in it.

"Do you think the Beast will find Sid?" Eddie asked Buck nervously.

"Or more importantly, us?" Crash adds.

Buck turns to them. "Rudy? Are you joking? He's relentless. He knows all. Sees all. Eats all". He tells them in the least reassuring way possible. "So that's a yes".

Buck then noticed everyone looking a bit scared. Not because of what he said but because of what was behind him. Eddie points to it and Buck turns to see red eyes staring at them.

"Hey, get off my lawn! Go on! Shoo!" He tells the creature, whose 'eyes' turn out to just be patterns on the wings of a butterfly, which flies away.

"I knew that guy when he was a caterpillar. You know, before he came out". Buck tells everyone.

Manny, Diego, Avery, and Redwood walk ahead of the herd as they follow him. "So you're just living down here by your wits? All on your own? No responsibilities?" Diego asks Buck.

"Not one. It's incredible. No dependence, no limits. It's the greatest life a single guy could have". He answered happily.

Diego then turns to Manny and Redwood. "You hear that? This is my kinda place".

"Great... a place full of danger, death, no responsibilities, and no one to stick by you when you need it the most!" Redwood spoke sarcastically. "Sounds like every person's dream".

"Red, be nice. This place isn't so bad", Avery says.

Just then, Buck started using a rock as a phone, (for some odd reason). "Hello? Yeah. No, I can't talk right now. You know, I'm trying to recover a dead sloth. Heh". He puts his knife in a tree and raises a finger, telling the herd to give him a minute. "And they're following me. I know. They think I'm crazy. OK, we're going into the Chasm of Death. I'm gonna lose ya. Yeah, alright. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye". He drops the rock and grabs his knife again. "Okay. Follow me".

"That's you in three weeks", Manny tells Diego.

The girls chuckle a bit before continuing and Redwood takes a look around the area, still having mixed feelings for this place. On one hand, there was undoubtedly danger in things that seemed harmless. But on the other hand, not everything looked like it was out to get them and some stuff actually seemed pretty cool.

And the more she thought about it, the more she realized that despite what they just went through, she and the others have been through way worse before all of this, so maybe she was just overreacting.

"Still feeling tense?" Avery asked her as she climbed onto the human's shoulder. "I know you're still a little shaken up, but try to relax for now, okay?"

Redwood sighs and nods. Despite feeling a bit on edge, she decided to trust Avery's word and somewhat calm down. "Okay. It's just... a lot of things happened today and I guess I might be feeling slightly paranoid".

"Just don't try to be on Manny's level of paranoia", Avery chuckles. "Besides, as long as we have Buck with us, we'll be fine".

Redwood nodded and started feeling in a better mood, which was refreshing considering how she wasn't feeling that much positive lately due to a number of reasons.

Avery then turned her attention forward and back onto the trail they were on. But soon, her eyes started drifting over to Buck and her focus was more on him as he continued to lead the herd.

Ignoring the awkward moments they just had, Avery found him to be quite an interesting guy. Based on how he saved their lives twice, he seemed to be very clever, quick-witted, durable, brave, and he clearly knows his way around this place. And as for his weird quirks and odd behavior, in a way, they made him pretty amusing and added a bit of charm to him.

But going back to those awkward moments she had with him, Avery couldn't help but think... what were those?

She didn't mind Buck since she thinks it was probably another one of his quirks to act like that. But what she was really concerned about was herself and how she acted when she was around him. Her face would heat up, her stomach would start feeling fuzzy, and her heart rate would beat slightly faster.

She knew what this meant, she wasn't an idiot; she obviously felt attracted to him. But she was trying to think about why and... what are the others going to think of this?

"Can I help you?" Buck asked.

"Huh? Wha..." Avery snapped out of her thoughts and realized that she's been staring at Buck this whole time... and he just noticed it now.

"Avery, are you okay?" Redwood asked next. Great, she noticed too.

This made Avery feel slightly embarrassed, and she tried to cover it up. "Oh, uh... Y-yeah I'm fine. I-I was just... curious", she says, telling part of the truth. "Buck, h-how do you manage to get by in this place and... not die within 10 minutes?".

"Hmm, well if you really want to know..."

Avery jumped off Redwood's shoulders and starts walking beside Buck while listening to him speak. This left the human in a state of confusion and she began feeling slightly worried about the way Avery was acting right now.

What made it worse was when Redwood turned around and saw Ellie smirking, as if she knew something.

"Why do you have that face?" She asks.

"Oh, no reason", Ellie says unconvincingly.

"Come on! I already saw it. You have to tell me now", Redwood said.

"It's not that important". Ellie paused for a bit and made sure no one was looking/listening before whispering to Redwood. "Except for the fact that Avery might be starting to have a crush on Buck." She gestures towards the two weasels.

And just like that, those words left Redwood in shock. "What?! You aren't being serious, right?" She asked Ellie.

The female mammoth nodded yes. "Of course I am. Think about it. With everyone else, Avery is always full of sass and confidence. But with Buck, she starts getting nervous, which is something we rarely ever see with her".

Redwood refused to believe this and tried to find a loophole around it. "B-but she's only known the guy for a couple of hours! We really shouldn't jump to the conclusion that she likes him like that, okay? It might just be some short-term attraction or something!"

Ellie shakes her head. "You could be right. But, to be fair, I only knew Manny for a few days when we first met, and look where we are now". She gestures to her pregnant belly with her trunk. "There's always a possibility. After all, what else could've made her act like that?".

Ellie then walked ahead afterwards, leaving Redwood to think about this. But unfortunately, this was something that Redwood didn't know how to respond to. Sure, Buck seemed like a good guy, but after hearing what Ellie said, something about him being near Avery suddenly made Redwood feel upset and.... maybe even anxious.

Even though she wanted to push these thoughts down and deal with this later, she couldn't help but think...

...why was she feeling anxious about this?

*Meanwhile*

Buck was still conversating with Avery and they seemed to be having a pleasant time together. However, as they continued, he noticed that he began having that same weird feeling from before. He couldn't place it at the moment, but all he knew was that he got it the first time when he caught her in his arms earlier after saving her and the others from that carnivorous plant.

When they first met and he kissed her paw, it was because he was only being friendly and he found her instant flusteredness to be quite funny. But once he actually got a good look at her and saw a small bit of her personality, he started feeling... something. It was similar to the adrenaline rush he would get while facing danger, but it also felt fairly different.

But even though he couldn't place it, that didn't stop him from acknowledging it. Regardless however, he decided to look more into it later. Because for now, he had to focus more on getting the herd to their destination, safely.

*Sometime Later*

They arrive in the Chasm of Death, which was a big gap in the ground filled with green smoke. Crash spits into the green fog and the spit falls until a splash is heard.

"So, why do they call it the Chasm of Death?" Eddie asks Buck.

"Well, we tried Big Smelly Crack but, uh, that just made everybody giggle". He explains.

Avery tried to hold in her laugh after hearing that. "I see what you mean".

"Well, now what?" Manny asks.

Buck cuts a vine and then a giant rib cage from a dinosaur skeleton drops down. "Madams", he gestures for the girls to go first.

They step forward but Manny stops them. "Whoa! They are not doing that!"

"Bah-bah-bah-bah! Rule number one". Buck reminds him.

Eddie then raises his hand, thinking he knows the answer. "Oooh, ooh, ooh!"

"Ah! Come on, mammoth. You're supposed to have a good memory". Buck taps Manny's head.

Ellie smiles before walking forward. "Always listen to Buck".

"Yeah. Don't worry, we'll be fine". Avery reassures Manny.

Redwood looks between the chasm and rib cage that's meant to hold them. "Will we though?"

The girls get into the rib cage and Buck adjusts a few things so they can get across. "Now, eyes forward, backs straight, and, oh, yes, breathe in the toxic fumes and you'll probably die".

"Toxic fumes?!" Ellie and Avery repeat, now feeling scared.

"Just... why?!" Redwood complains.

"Just another day in paradise". Buck smiles.

"Wait!" Manny tries to stop this, but it's too late as Buck cuts a vine loose and they plummet into the green smoke, with the girls holding their breaths.

"Geronimo!" Buck yells excitedly.

They disappear into the green mist, with the boys just watching and waiting. Just then, the car is pulled back up but it's empty.

"Ellie! Avery! Redwood! You guys okay?!" Manny shouts, worried.

"You have to try this!" Ellie answered back, sounding like she had fun.

"Yeah, it's really not that bad!" Redwood shouts back.

"Alright, pile on everyone! Couldn't be easier!" Buck tells the guys.

Apparently, it really could've been easier.

Not long after the boys stepped in, the rib cage got stranded over the chasm with them still in it.

"Don't panic! Just some technical difficulties!" Buck grunts, struggling to pull the vines to get them to the other side. "Keep holding it in boys!"

Manny and Diego look at each other nervously while Eddie is having trouble holding his breath until he finally lets go.

"I can't take it anymore!"

"He breathed it!" Crash gasps. "And now I'm breathing it!"

The two possums then gasp for air, believing they're going to die. But surprisingly, that doesn't happen.

"Hey, we're not dead!" Eddie says, his voice now high-pitched.

"You sound ridiculous!" Crash tells him, his voice sounding the same way.

"Me? You should hear you!"

They laugh much to the puzzlement of the others.

Eddie then gets an idea. "Alright, alright, and a one and a two".

Crash & Eddie: ♫Christmas, Christmas time is near~♫

"Stop! Are you crazy?!" Manny says, still holding his breath.

As the brothers laugh again, Diego breathes in and realizes. "It's not poison". Hearing his voice in the same tone, Diego starts laughing.

Crash and Eddie laugh as well. "That's so disturbing".

Soon, even Manny joins in on it and they continue to laugh, which can be heard by the others on the other side of the chasm.

"Is that the guys?" Redwood questions.

Buck then climbs onto the ropes and yells at the boys, sounding very serious. "Stop laughing! All of you!"

"Stop laughing! All of you!" Manny mocks him. He then sticks his head out, shutting one eye and imitating Buck. "What's rule number one?"

This makes Buck glare at the cage and its giggling passengers, feeling annoyed by them.

"Wow, that is funny but also rude", Avery states.

"Sounds like you", Redwood smirks.

"They're just laughing. What's so bad about that?" Ellie asks.

Buck points into the chasm with a fearful look on his face. "They died laughing!"

The girls look down and gasp in fear to see dinosaur skeletons littering the chasm floor, all of them looking like they laughed to death.

They immediately looked back up and started shouting desperately at the guys to stop laughing.

"Stop laughing!"

"This isn't funny anymore!"

"Zip it! You're all going to die!"

Unfortunately, they didn't listen to their warnings. This made Avery frantically look around to try and get them out. She then looked at the vines and saw that they needed to be adjusted in order to move them. However, the part that needed adjusting was on the rib cage.

Without wasting time, she held her breath and started to run up the vine, only to be stopped by Buck. "Where are you going?"

"I just need to get to the rib cage and fix the vine from there. That way we'll be able to get them out". She explained.

"I'll go then. You stay here", He tells her.

"What?! No! Those are my friends and I'm not--".

"Rule number 1", Ellie cuts her off as she reminds her.

Avery sighed. She looked at her friends and then at Buck. If it wasn't going to be her, she at least trusts him enough to pull this off. "...Fine", she mumbles, heading back to Ellie and Redwood.

Before Buck could go back into the chasm, he turns back and gives Avery a reassuring smile. "Don't you worry about a thing. I promise I'll be back".

He takes a deep breath and disappears into the green fog, leaving Avery to feel a bit more relaxed, and Redwood to feel a bit more conflicted.

Meanwhile, the guys continue their shenanigans. "Y-you know what's funny though?! We're trying to save Sid! And now we're all gonna die!" Manny says.

"And I don't even like Sid". Eddie states.

"Who does?! He's an idiot!" Crash says while everyone continued laughing.

Diego then turns to Manny. "Thanks for getting me into this mess! It's the most fun I've had in years!"

"Thank you for deserting the herd! That was totally super!"

There's a slight pause before they resume laughing. Then the rib cage jerks a little and they look up to see Buck pulling on the vines. Manny reaches up and tickles him with his trunk. "Coochie-coochie-coo!"

"Stop that!" Feeling shocked afterwards, Buck gasped and covered his mouth. He breathed in the gas. "Don't you see?! We're all gonna die!" His voice turns high pitch mid-way through his sentence and everyone starts laughing again. This time with Buck laughing along with them.

Meanwhile, the girls heard and saw what went down and they look at each other with unamused expressions.

"We've gotta do everything, huh?" Ellie sighs.

Redwood turns around and sees a tree. She looks at the vines and the rib cage and gets an idea. "Give me a hand with this", she tells the others.

The girls grab a loose vine and start pulling the tree until it falls over, making the rib cage move again. Everyone in it starts whooping in excitement, still laughing their heads off.

"Sometimes, I wet my bed!" Eddie says.

"It's alright, sometimes I wet your bed!", Crash adds.

The rib cage soon hits the ground, sending the boys flying out onto it, with their voices turning back to normal. Afterwards, Manny looks up and sees Ellie, Avery, and Redwood staring down at him and the others.

"Uh, I don't know how much of that you could hear". He said with a blank face.

"Oh, we heard all of it". Ellie assured him.

"Right, yeah".

"Seriously, where would you boys be without us?" Avery says.

"You wet my bed?" Eddie asks Crash.

His brother shrugs. "That was gas talk dude".

"Well, guess we'd better get going". Manny says, getting up.

"Uh, aren't we forgetting someone?" Diego refers to Buck, who's still in the chasm, laughing and sliding down another vine.

"Here, Rudy, Rudy, Rudy! I'm so lonely!"

Avery shakes her head while giggling at Buck, but then notices Redwood's mood change. She looks more upset now.

"What's wrong?" She asks her.

"It's nothing", the human responds.

"Are you sure? If you want to tal--"

"I said it's nothing!", She says a bit louder. "Let's just go".

She walks ahead, leaving Avery feeling concerned about her. And thankfully, she wasn't the only one, as the others saw this too.

*Elsewhere*

The baby dinos are so hungry that they are chewing on a rock.

"Alright. Here you go, guys. Muncha-muncha". Sid brings out some vegetables and puts them on the rock. Eggbert, Shelly, and Yoko sniff them then recoil in disgust before tipping them off onto Sid.

"What? You're not gonna eat the vegetables? How are you gonna become big strong dinosaurs?"

Just then, Momma T-Rex puts a seemingly dead bird down on the rock.

"No. Uh-uh". Sid disapproves. "I raised them vegetarian. It's a healthier lifestyle. I mean, look at me. I have the pelt of a much younger sloth".

Momma T-Rex nods and turns the rock around so Sid has his back turned. He then turns back to her. "Excuse me! I'm trying to have a conversation here".

Momma T-Rex grabs the broccoli Sid's holding in her mouth before throwing Sid into a nearby pond and the broccoli onto his head.

Eggbert, Shelly, and Yoko go to eat the bird but it gets yanked away by Sid, (who came back rather quickly). "No, no, no, no, no, no. That's not for us kids. That's way too feathery and fleshy and...", He pokes the bird's foot and it wakes up. "AND ALIVE!"

The bird looks around itself, squawking in fear 3 times as it sees the other dinosaurs. It jumps onto Sid in fear, seeing how he's the least intimidating and dangerous one there. Eggbert, Shelly, and Yoko stare pleadingly while Momma T-Rex glares at Sid.

"No, no, no, no. We do not eat live animals period". Sid walks towards a cliff as the bird tries to get away. "Now go! Fly! Be free!" He throws the bird off the edge of a cliff but instead of flying, it falls. "Little... flightless... bird.

The bird continues to fall until a passing Pteradon eats it, making Sid regret what he did very quickly. "Uh, my bad".

Momma T-Rex walks away to some bushes to grab something as Sid walks back. "Hey, where are you going? This is how you resolve conflict?! No wonder you're single!"

She picks up a big chicken leg and drops it in front of the baby dinos, ignoring Sid.

"Oh, come on. Am I talking to myself here? I say they're vegetarian, you say "Grrr!". I say can we talk about this, you say "Grrr!". I don't call that communication".

Momma T-Rex growls at the sloth again.

"See? That's your answer to everything". Sid complains.

The chicken leg lands next to the two and both look over to see Eggbert, Shelly, and Yoko with their bellies full. Momma T-Rex gives Sid a look as he frowns.

Just then, a sudden roar rings out across the jungle, causing her to look up and around in slight worry.

Sid gets confused by this. "What are you afraid of? You're the biggest thing on Earth".

Momma T-Rex looks at her kids and shoves them off into the Jungle.

"Aren't you?" Sid's confusion is replaced by fear and he grabs onto her tail while she walks away.

As they head off into the jungle, a white and much larger foot covers up Momma T-Rex's much small footprint.

Chapter Text

"They'll never survive! It's dangerous by day!"

"But it's even worse at night!"

"Plus, their guide is a lunatic!"

"What?"

"You mean Buck? Oh, he's wacko!"

"I am not!"

"Totally bonkers!"

"And his feet smell!"

"SHUT UP!"

"You shut up!"

"Why you little...!"

Buck spoke as he put on a puppet show with dinosaur skulls and then proceeded to wrestle with the skull on his foot while the herd looks at him weirdly.

'What does Avery see in this guy?', Redwood thought.

"He's strangling his own foot. Shouldn't we get moving?!" Manny asked him.

Buck stopped fighting his foot and spoke for the skull as he held it. "What?! And give Rudy a midnight snack? Not likely".

He then spoke in his normal voice. "The skull's right. Take a load off, mammals. We'll camp here. Now, who's hungry?"

"I am".

"You don't need the calories!"

Avery rolls her eyes while smiling at Buck before speaking to the group. "Okay, here's the plan; since I don't trust Manny to pick out food after what happened last time, I'll do it. He can stay with Ellie and keep a lookout, just in case".

Manny groans at this, feeling upset that she's not going to let that go. "Since when did you start taking charge?"

"I'm not. I'm just managing a few things so that none of us gets killed for another dumb mistake". Avery informs him.

"Well, thanks. It's not like we have someone else already doing that," Manny replies with sarcasm.

Meanwhile, Ellie starts to get a sneaking idea. "Hey Buck, do you mind tagging along with Avery?"

"Sure. Why not?", Buck says, feeling more than happy to be joining her.

Both Avery and Redwood glare at Ellie, who smirks at the female weasel. "What? Is that a problem?"

"... No...", Avery sighs at this, feeling annoyed, before turning to Redwood. "Red, we're going need some firewood. You know what to do".

"Got it", Redwood nodded.

"Oh and take Crash and Eddie with you", Avery adds.

"What?! No! Why?" Redwood frowns.

"So they can help you".

Redwood then looks at the two possums, who were both goofing around before getting into one of their brotherly fights. "...I don't think they'll be much help. Just have them stay with Ellie and Manny", The human suggests.

"Okay, then take Diego", Avery says.

"Really?"

"Yes, really. If you don't need help, you at least need someone watching your back".

"How do you know he won't leave it?" Redwood crosses her arms.

"You're still upset about that?" Avery asks.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Redwood begins to sound madder. "Look, the point is, I can handle picking up a few sticks myself! I'm not 6 anymore and I don't need a babysitter watching me!"

She turns away and started walking towards the trees with everyone staring at her, wondering why she was so angry, but they didn't comment. Avery sighs tiredly and turns to Diego, gesturing him to follow her regardless. Afterward, she looks at the others. "Alright guys, let's get started. We can't waste any time."

Everyone nodded and begin collecting everything they needed. Avery and Buck took Crash and Eddie with them, which was somewhat of a mistake as they were goofing off halfway through the task, which later turned into them fighting again.

Avery ignored this and focused more on collecting the food for the herd. She picked out a few berries and nuts and ran them by Buck; that way she wouldn't accidentally trigger something or poison someone.

At some point, she grabbed 3 berries and tried doing the trick where you toss them in the air and catch them with your mouth. She failed twice and when she tried the third time, she almost succeeded but instead of falling into her mouth, the barry was caught mid-air by Buck and he tossed it into his mouth.

"Hey! That was mine, you thief!", Avery laughed a bit while nudging him. Buck gave her a playful grin and took another berry.

"Oh no, you don't", she said, reaching out and stealing it back from him. Avery grinned cheekily and tried to walk away, but Buck grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him. When he reached for another berry that she was holding, she tried to move away again and this eventually turned into a playful game of cat and mouse.

Avery eventually tripped and pulled Buck with her. When they landed on the ground, Avery ended up lying on top of Buck. They looked at each other in silence for a few seconds before bursting into laughter, finding their playfulness to be humorous. Once they calmed themselves down, they began staring at each other, blushing a bit and smiling as the moment shifted from funny to sweet.

Too bad it couldn't last as long, as the two weasels heard someone clear their throat and looked to the side to see Crash and Eddie awkwardly standing there.

"Should we leave? This feels private", Crash asked.

"No, no! It's fine! Nothing's happening!", Avery quickly stated, pushing herself away from Buck and trying to act natural. She helped Buck up as well and he brushed himself off, still chuckling to himself about what had just happened.

Avery cleared her throat, "We should uh... we should... keep working".

The boys nodded and continued their task. After about a few minutes of gathering food, they made it back to the area, where Redwood had already finished getting what she needed and was now trying to start the fire.

She struggled a bit but eventually started a spark and lit up the pile of firewood she collected. She smiled proudly and looked around for Sid, forgetting that he wasn't with them. "Ha! Sid, I finally did it! I..."

When she realized, her smile faded as quickly as it came and she looked back at the fire with a sad expression. She really missed Sid. Sure, he made dumb mistakes and he wasn't the smartest or the strongest of their herd, but he was funny, always kept the mood up, and cared a lot about them all. It would be a massive loss to Redwood if they don't find him.

The others saw this and Avery walked up to Redwood, patting her arm reassuringly. "He'll be okay. We're gonna find him. I promise".

Redwood gives her a face that seemed less than hopeful. "You really think we'll make it in time?"

Avery knew what she was trying to say and hesitated a bit. But thankfully, Buck came up to them and answered for her. "Well, he may be a bit scratched up here and there, but either way he'll be alive and well when we do find him".

"You swear on that?" Redwood asked.

Buck places his paw over his heart. "I swear on my one remaining eye".

This comforted Redwood a little bit and her sad expression turned into a half smile. Maybe she was thinking the worst too early. There actually might be time to save Sid. She just needed to hang onto hope. "Thanks guys". She tells the two.

Avery then turned to Buck and also mouthed a thank you to him, to which he nodded in response. Before walking away however, Avery called for his attention again. "Hey, is it okay if I ask? How exactly did... that happen?" She pointed at his eye patch.

Buck grinned at her curiosity. "Now that's a story..."

*Later that Night*

Buck was telling his backstory to the herd. His storytelling had everyone strongly interested in what he had to say.

"There I was... My back against the wall. No way out. Perched on a razor's edge of oblivion. Staring into the eye of the Great White Beast".

A flashback to when Buck first came into the jungle. He's stood in a rainstorm, looking scared. Just then, Rudy opens one of his red eyes. Buck gasps and Rudy brings his claw down, swiping at Buck and sending him flying. He lands on the ground and clutches his eye since it was wounded when Rudy swiped at him. He looks to see Rudy standing over him and roaring.

Seconds later, he runs away as a tree falls behind him. He then climbs up another tree that stretched high above the clouds. Trees collapse around him. Buck ties a leaf over his wounded eye like an eyepatch before grabbing a branch to use as a weapon. He then climbs to the top of the tree as the clouds swirl around him, looking for Rudy.

Suddenly, Rudy pokes his head slightly through the clouds and rises up in front of a terrified Buck, swallowing him whole.

Back in reality, Buck mimes what happened with his hands.

"Were you killed?" Crash asked.

"Sadly, yes. But I lived". Buck answered.

Crash and Eddie sighed in relief while Redwood looked confused. Manny groaned at this and Ellie shushed him so Buck can continue.

"Never had I felt so alive than I was so close to death. Just before Rudy could suck me down his gullet, I grabbed onto that gross pink fleshy thing that dangles at the back of the throat".

Redwood, Crash, and Eddie cringe in disgust.

"I held onto that sucker and I swung back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back..."

Everyone gasped when he stopped suddenly before continuing.

"And forth and back and forth. Until finally I let go and I shot right out of his mouth". Buck threw his knife in the air before catching it. "I may have lost an eye that day, but I got this!"

"Rudy's tooth!" Eddie shook his brother's shoulder.

"Dang". Crash said in awe.

"It's like the old saying. An eye for a tooth, a nose for a chin, a butt for a..." Buck trailed off when he couldn't remember the rest. "Well, it's an old saying. But, uh, it's not a very good one".

The possums then start praising him.

"You are Super Weasel!"

"Ultra Weasel!"

"Diesel-Weasel!" Diego adds.

Buck then beatboxes while body-popping and gives Diego a high-five with his foot.

Manny scoffs and Redwood rolls her eyes.

"What? He is". Deigo told them.

Redwood sighs before speaking to Buck. "I'll admit, I'm impressed. That was an amazing story".

Avery agrees. "You were so brave standing up to Rudy like that. And you two have been battling each other for years since then?"

"Well, we do have our, shall we say, little spats every now and again". He tells her. "Now let me tell you about the time I used a sharpened clamshell to turn a T-Rex into a T-Rachel".

Crash and Eddie smile and bow at this. "Yes, master".

"Whoa, whoa, whoa", Manny interrupts. "That's enough fairytales for one night. Come on, Ellie. You should rest now".

Ellie rolls her eyes. "Pfft. Life at the party".

"I'll say", Avery says. "Well, good night everybody."

Diego lies down and turns to see Redwood, only this time instead of laying her head on him like before, she just walks passed him and leans against a tree to sleep for the night.

"Are you sure you'll be comfortable there?" He asked her.

"I'll be fine. I've done this after you left", she tells him, her tone sounding slightly harsh.

Diego looked saddened by this and maybe even a little guilty. He knew him leaving would affect the herd, but he didn't expect Redwood to become so distant and moody because of it. It actually hurt him a bit to see her like this. Regardless though, it was too late to try and negotiate with her, so he turned around and put himself to sleep.

"Alright, you guys get some shut-eye. I'll keep watch". Buck tells the herd.

Crash and Eddie then walked over with sticks and used them as swords.

"Don't worry, Buck. We got this. Night time is possum time". Eddie spoke up.

"Yeah. We own the night, baby". Crash agrees.

Later on, the two boys didn't last very long as they fell asleep along with everyone else.

Buck sits awake carving a figure of Rudy with his knife when he hears a dinosaur roaring in the distance, grinning as he looks at the figure.

"Goodnight, Rudy".

*Back with Sid*

Meanwhile, Momma T-Rex is lifting Eggbert, Shelly, and Yoko up into a cave with her tail. She climbs after them, leaving Sid on the ground.

"Wait, wait, what about me?" He tries to climb up but struggles before grabbing onto a leaf, which snaps and makes him fall back on the ground.

Thinking he might not even make it, Sid calls out to the baby dinos. "Sleep well, kids. We have a busy day tomorrow. Foraging, hunting... missing my friends.... Who probably aren't missing me".

Just then Momma T-Rex uses her tail to lift Sid into the cave with them. Eggbert wakes up slightly and nuzzles Sid. He smiles and rubs his nose and Eggbert goes back to sleep as Momma wraps them all in her tail.

"Aw, you're a real softie you know that?" Sid comments to her.

But Momma is too busy looking out of the cave entrance to respond. Seeing nothing, she curls up and falls asleep.

Outside however, Rudy's shadow looms over the cave entrance and he opens his mouth revealing his teeth before moving on.

Chapter Text

Later through the night, everyone was still soundly asleep... except for Redwood, who woke up at some point and was sitting a few feet away from the herd. She wanted to clear her mind for a bit, as her anxious feeling has returned yet again.

"Having trouble sleeping?"

The human girl gets startled but then realizes that it was just Buck.

"No! .....Well, maybe a little...", She answers him. "I... couldn't sleep for the past few days and... I just need to clear my mind right now".

"About what? Is it about your friend again? If it is, we're gonna find him soon, so don't worry." Buck tried to comfort Redwood.

"No, it's not that. I mean... of course, I'm worried about Sid. I really wanna know if he's okay, but still... I'm not only thinking about that..." Redwood said before looking back at the herd.

"Then... what is it? If you wanna talk about something, you can tell me. I'm all ears, kid". Buck said, giving her a reassuring smile.

Redwood then sighs and looks at Buck. She wasn't sure why, maybe it was because he saved her and the others' lives, or maybe it was because he seemed very genuine about letting her speak. Either way, she felt like she can trust him with her thoughts right now. Plus, if she kept this in any longer, she would scream.

So after a few minutes of silence, Redwood decided to talk. "Honestly... I'm worried about what's gonna happen with our herd. Manny and Ellie are having a baby, Diego is planning on leaving, I don't know if Sid is dead or alive, and Avery... she... well... let's just say that I don't think she understands why I feel like this. I know she just wants to help me and tells me things will get better, but with how everything is changing..... it just makes me more scared..."

Redwood's voice begins to crack and she tears up a bit. "I'm afraid of what's gonna happen to all of us. We're meant to be a family but... we're just drifting apart. And... I already lost my parents before...  I don't wanna lose this family... I don't... wanna be alone..." Redwood lowered her head and started silently crying.

Buck looked at her, and the smile that's usually on his face shifted into a saddened frown. Listening to what she had said, plus seeing the poor teen sob made his heart ache. From what he saw before, she had a bit of a moody attitude with the others, and now he sees why. She's just a terrified kid worried about her family and her future.

This made Buck quiet for a moment. He gently patted her arm as she continued crying, and soon he figured out what to say to Redwood. "You know what, kid? From what I've seen before with you and everyone else; you're herd, or family as you like to call them, look like they care about you a lot. They're trying their best to look after you, but it also seems like they have their own goals and ambitions that they want to follow too. That doesn't mean they'll stop caring about you or each other. The fact that you all are on this dangerous adventure to save your friend says a lot about that".

"I know", Redwood tells him, sniffling a little. "But still, in the end, things will change and we're all going to be on our separate ways. And when we do...", she didn't bother finishing her sentence.

"Change isn't all that scary. It's part of growing up. And learning to adapt to new things may seem difficult at first..." Buck looks at his knife as he continues. "...But when you actually give it a try, it won't seem as scary as you once thought before. It might even change you for the better. Besides, even if your herd decides to go on their separate ways, you will never truly be alone. Because you'll never forget about each other. You know what it's like being a family and what it means to them, and no matter what happens, no matter how far away they'll go, they will always love you and each other. Because nothing will be able to break the bond you've managed to build with them".

Redwood sniffled once more. She wiped away her tears and smiled softly at the weasel. For someone who was crazier than the world he lived in, Buck was very comforting and managed to get Redwood to actually rethink and feel better about her situation. This was definitely what she needed to hear, and she was very grateful for it.

She pulls Buck in for a hug, which he reciprocates, feeling happy that was able to put a smile on her face again.

"Thank you, Buck".

"You're welcome... Redwood. Just know that I'm here if you wish to talk again". They pull away from the hug and Buck gestures back to the campsite. "Now go get some sleep".

Redwood nods but as they head back to the campsite, Manny suddenly yells in fright as he wakes up, probably from a nightmare. "Aaaaah!"

He looks over at Ellie who's still asleep and sighs with relief. Not soon after, she wakes up along with Avery next, and the two look at Manny. "What's going on? Are you okay?" Ellie asks.

Manny sighs. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to keep you safe and now you're in the most dangerous place in the world".

"Manny, it's not your fault". Avery says.

Ellie agrees. "She's right, you know. It's bigger than all of us. We have to get Sid".

"Yeah, but if I had been a better friend to him, we wouldn't be here". Manny says, feeling guilty.

"Better friend?" Buck joins the conversation. "Are you plucking my whiskers? You risked your life, your mate, and your baby to save your buddy. Not the best husband or father, but a darn good friend". He grins and walks off.

That last part caused Diego to open his eyes and start thinking about something. Which was very quickly interrupted when Scrat's acorn hits him on the head, followed shortly after by Scrat and Scratte chasing after it.

"Hey!" Diego grunted as the two saber squirrels jumped onto him.

Redwood snickered a bit at that, which caught Avery's attention. "Red, what are you doing still up? You look exhausted".

Buck walks back over and answers for the human. "She was with me. We were just talking and she was about to head back to sleep now".

"It's true", Redwood yawned. "Well, goodnight". She walked back over to the tree she was sleeping against, but then hesitated. She thought something over for a minute before moving to another tree that was closer to Diego. She sat down, leaned against it, and shut her eyes, looking more comfortable than she was before.

Diego and Avery noticed this change and were slightly puzzled. Diego's mind just assumed that maybe she was getting over her anger for him and was finally calming down, which made him slightly happy but still didn't take away the guilt he had from earlier.

As for Avery, she turned to Buck, assuming that this had to do with them talking. "Did you tell her something?" She asked.

Buck, not wanting to say too much in case Redwood wanted to keep their conversation private, gave Avery a vague yet acceptable answer. "Just some advice. Something she needed".

Avery softly smiled and looked impressed. "Well, whatever it was, it looked like it made her feel better. You're doing a lot for us, and I really appreciate it".

She then went over to Buck and gave him a kiss on the cheek, which really surprised him.

Avery tried acting confident about what she did, but that was quickly washed away and she started stammering again. "Alright... uh... I-I think I should... turn in for the night... again... uh.... goodnight?... again?"

Without another word, she rushed back to the spot she was sleeping in, not daring to look back at Buck, who was blushing bashfully with an adorable smile on his face. Avery was leaving an impact on him with all the small moments that they were having recently. And the kiss was just enough for Buck to finally confirm something that had him confused and wondering since the moment he first saved Avery....

....He was definitely falling in love with her.

Chapter Text

The next morning, three dinosaurs peck around the watermelon Sid tried to feed the baby dinos from before. But then they flee when Buck and the herd come into view.

"Everybody stop!" Buck sniffs the air. "I smell something".

Eddie sniffs his own armpit, thinking it's him. Buck then crawls over to a tuft of Sid's fur laying on the ground and picks it up with his knife. "Hmm. Smells like a buzzard's butt fell off". He sniffs it again and recoils in disgust. "And then got sprayed on by a bunch of skunks".

"That's Sid". Diego confirms.

"We really gotta talk to him about taking a bath",  Avery comments.

"Mammals, we have ourselves a crime scene". Buck holds up the fur tufts on his knife. "A tuft of fur". He points to an eaten chicken leg. "Half-eaten carcass!" He then moves Sid's broccoli out of the water. "Hunk of... Ugh! No! Broccoli!" He recoils in disgust and gags.

After getting over it, Buck turns back to the herd. "Here's what I think happened: Dinosaur attacks Sid, Sid fights back with piece of broccoli, leaving dinosaur... a vegetable".

"Are you nuts? Sid's not violent. Or coordinated". Diego says doubtfully.

Manny agrees with him. "Yeah, and where's the dinosaur?"

"Alright, alright. Good point". Buck clears his throat. "Theory 2: Sid's eating broccoli, dinosaur eats Sid, dinosaur steps on broccoli, leaving broccoli... a vegetable".

"Buck, when exactly did you lose your mind?" Manny asked.

Buck actually thought about it before responding. "Hmm. Three months ago. I woke up one morning married to a pineapple. An ugly pineapple". He sighs dreamingly. "But I loved her". He then looked at Avery, who seemed very confused, and spoke to her next. "But, uh, don't worry. Things didn't work out, so we broke up".

Redwood wanted to say something about this, but instead mumbled to herself. "It's Buck. I'm not gonna question it".

"Uh, Buck", Diego calls out while standing near a cliff. "I think you missed a little clue over here".

Everyone walked over to where he was and looked over the edge of the cliff in surprise. "Well, your friend might be alive, but not for long". Buck says. "Rudy's closing in".

They stare out across the landscape that had plates of large rocks and boulders. There was a sort of stable pathway on the side while the rest was just broken up, as if a huge creature, (most likely Rudy), had barged through it. 

"Whoa". Crash and Eddie said in sync.

"You've got it. The Plates of Woe... or whatever's left of them". Buck says.

Redwood looks at the plates and heads to the path on the side. "Well, we're not gonna get to Sid by just standing here. Let's go". She jumps on the path, which creaks a little but doesn't break, and continues walking.

"Redwood! Be careful!" Manny calls out. "Are we sure this is even safe?"

"No, but it's all we got right now. So come on", Avery tells him.

The herd carefully steps onto the plates and walks down the path. A few moments pass and the plates start to creak under the herd's weight.

"Single file, everyone! Head for Lava Falls!" Buck tells them.

Some pieces of their path come loose without the group even touching them, much to Crash and Eddie's fright. Every step they take causes the plates to creak and sway ever so slightly. Just then, the wind starts making whispering noises as they walk on.

"What's that sound?" Crash asks Buck.

"It's the wind. It's speaking to us".

Eddie holds his brother's arm nervously. "What's it saying?"

"I don't know. I don't speak wind". Buck says.

"What about Redwood? Can she translate?" Crash asks.

Redwood gives him an unamused look. "I speak animal, not elements".

Ellie, who was lagging behind in the group, stops walking and groans. She shuts her eyes tightly and seems to be in pain.

Manny looks behind him in concern. "Ellie".

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me". She reassures him. "I'm just taking my... Whaa!" The plate she was on suddenly shakes dangerously.

Unbeknownst to the herd, Guanlongs dinosaurs were the ones shaking the plate.

"Ellie!" Manny tries to rush to her but the rock he stepped on breaks apart and falls. Thankfully, when the piece fell, it forced the Guanlongs to retreat.

"Manny!" Ellie cried out.

"Get to the ledge!"

Ellie does so and jumps to the ledge next to her just before her plate fell. But unfortunately, the plates Manny and the others were on started to fall next and collapse into the canyon below. Midway through the fall, Buck grabbed onto Avery and held her close to him protectively.

When it was over, everyone immediately got up with seemingly no one being badly hurt. Buck, who still had Avery in his grasp, looked at her with some concern. "Are you alright?"

"I've been through worse". She said as she calmly slipped out of his hold and turned to the others. "Is everyone okay?"

Diego and Redwood emerged from a pile of rocks, seeming unharmed for the most part. "We're good", Redwood says.

Manny pushed his way out from behind a boulder as he shouted. "Ellie!"

Crash and Eddie call out for their sister too as the herd regrouped. "Ellie! Where are you?"

"It's okay! I'm up here!" Ellie yells from a distance.

"Hang on, Ellie! We'll be right there!" Manny yells as he and the others try to get to her.

Ellie looks out for them until she starts groaning in pain again.

*Meanwhile, with Sid*

The baby dinos are playing in the jungle. Momma T-Rex nudges them along when she hears Rudy roaring in the distance. As she moves on, she causes Sid, who is hanging from her tail, to slam into a rock and fall behind.

"Oof! Wait! Sloth down!" Sid calls out, but Momma and the baby dinos don't hear him.

They keep walking further into the jungle and Sid tries to catch up on foot, but this proves less than helpful. "Wait! Wait! Time out! Hold up! Sheesh, you guys are getting fast!" He pants.

He slows down to catch his breath and continues to walk through the jungle, unsure about where they could've gone. Despite that, he tries to look on the bright side. "Ah, it's not so bad down here. Nice weather, friendly neighbors".

Just then, Rudy's feet land behind Sid. He feels his breathing above him and laughs nervously as he looks up and sees Rudy staring down at him. "Hi, neighbor".

Rudy roars loudly, which causes Sid to make a run for it.

*Back at the Plates*

The herd stops in their tracks when they also hear Rudy's thundering roar. Buck is the first to immediately recognize it. "Rudy".

"Rudy?" Eddie says anxiously.

They then hear Sid screaming in the distance.

"Never heard that kind of dino before". Buck says.

"That's Sid!" Manny clarifies.

Avery smiles happily. "Ha! I knew he'd make it!"

Meanwhile, Redwood looks more worried than relieved. "Yes, but by the sounds of it, it seems like Rudy is chasing him now".

"We'll have to move fast!" Buck tells the others.

Before anyone could follow, the group hears Ellie's voice again. "Manny! Pineapples!"

"Pineapples?" Buck asks.

Manny shrugs. "She gets cravings".

"Pomegranates? Grapefruits! Nectarines?!" Ellie says, forgetting the code word she and Manny talked about earlier.

"She's ordering a fruit cocktail". Diego guessed.

"At this time?" Avery questions.

"Come on. Think". Ellie tells herself before finally remembering the word. "PEACHES!"

"Peaches?" Manny is confused for a moment before suddenly realizing what she meant and begins freaking out. "Peaches! The baby! What, now?!"

"This? Not good". Deigo comments.

"You think?" Redwood looks at him.

Meanwhile, Manny continues running around terrified. "The baby's coming! Did you guys hear that?! Cause sometimes I can imagine in my head but I..."

"Can you try to hold it in?!" Crash shouts to Ellie.

"Can somebody slap him for me?" Ellie yells back.

Eddie did so with no hesitation. "Done and done". Crash gets mad at him and pounces on his brother in another fight.

"Just sit tight! We're coming!" Manny tells Ellie.

Buck quickly comes up with an idea for how to do this. "There's only one thing to do. Possums, Avery, you're with me. Manny, you and Redwood take care of Ellie until we get back".

Avery and Redwood nod in agreement but Manny wasn't too thrilled about this idea. "What?! No, you can't leave now! She's off the trail! What about rule number 2?!"

"Rule number 5 says that you can ignore rule number 2 if there's a female involved or possibly a cute dog. You know I just make up these rules as I go along". Buck says as he continued to walk away.

But Manny still tried to reason with him. "Yeah! But, but, but, she's... you have to..."

Diego cuts him off and tries to calm him down. "Manny! It's alright. I got your back". He then looks at Redwood. "And I promise I've got yours too, Red".

Both Manny and Redwood are slightly surprised but smile at this.

"Now you're talking". Buck grins. "Come on, lads".

"Ahem", Avery smirks.

"And Avery", Buck chuckles.

Crash and Eddie then jump onto Manny's tusks with serious expressions.

"Take of our sister, mister". Eddie says.

Crash punching his palm. "No pressure".

Avery walks up to Redwood next as she crouches down to the female weasel's level. "Promise me you'll be alright".

"Hey, we survived harsh winters, evil sabers, sea monsters, and a flood. I think I'll manage just fine". Redwood gives a determined look. "Just be safe on your side of things too".

"Got it", Avery smiles.

She, Crash, and Eddie hurry back to Buck and the four of them run off to go save Sid. "What does that mean? I've got your back? I mean, I'd rather they cover the front. That's where all the good stuff is, isn't it?" Buck asked them as they left.

"We've gotta move!" Diego says. Both groups head in different directions to do their parts.

Meanwhile, back up on the ledge where Ellie was, she tried to keep a cool head and calm down until Manny and the others got there. "Woo. Okay. Alright. It's okay. Daddy's... daddy's coming. I've gotta say, sweetheart, you've really got timing".

She settles down to rest but from the shadows, the Guanlongs watch hungrily.

Chapter Text

In the jungle, Sid pants as he continues to run from Rudy. While running, he spots a log and scrambles to hide in it. Thinking Rudy won't catch him now, he sighs in relief, only for the dinosaur to bring his feet down on both sides of the log.

This forces Sid to start running again. "Go away! Go away! Shoo! Stranger danger! Stranger danger!"

Rudy's foot stomps on the ground behind him, causing it to crack from the impact. Meanwhile, Sid sees he's heading towards lava and tries to turn back but slips. The cracks Rudy made caused the ground to break up, revealing the lava underneath and trapping Sid.

As Sid begins to drift off into the river of lava, he looks to see Rudy growl while walking away. At least that's one less problem to deal with. But unfortunately, now he's stuck on a platform in the middle of lava.

"Don't worry. It's just lava". Sid tells himself, trying to remain calm. He then hits a rock which breaks the platform he's on, making it smaller. "Deadly, boiling, lava!" He now begins to panic. And it only gets worse when he looks ahead to see he's heading for Lava Falls, which causes him to start screaming in complete fear.

Meanwhile, Buck and the others are standing in another area near the falls, getting a good view of it.

Feeling determined, Avery steps next to Buck. "Okay, so what's the plan?"

"That depends. Do you trust me?" He asks her.

Avery was confused by his question. But with all that he did to help them get this far, plus protecting them from danger, how could she not trust him? So she smiled and nodded in response. "Of course".

Buck grinned at her answer before turning to Crash and Eddie. "Boys, are you ready for adventure?"

"Yes, sir!" Crash and Eddie salute him.

"For danger?"

"Yes, sir!"

"For death?" He wraps his arms around the possums and Avery with a crazed grin on his face as he said the last part.

"Uh, could you repeat the question?" Crash asks. His and Eddie's excitement was replaced with nervousness and Avery was wondering if she made the right choice.

"Jump!"

Without much of a warning, Buck ran forward with Crash, Eddie, and Avery still in his grasp and they all jump off the side of the cliff. All four of them scream as they plummet into the mist below the cliff but then re-emerge while hanging onto the tail of a Pteranodon. It throws them in the air and Buck lassos its mouth with a vine, using it as reigns as they land on its back.

"That's right! Come on!" He cheered.

Crash, Eddie, and Avery land on the dinosaur next. Avery grips tightly onto it so she doesn't fall off, meanwhile the possums hold onto her as well for dear life.

"Have you ever flown one of these before?!"Crash asks Buck.

"No! First time, actually!" He answers them before whipping the reigns to make the Pteranodon fly faster. "Yee-haw!"

"I'm hoping this was the right choice". Avery comments as they fly on to save Sid.

*Back at the Plates*

Manny, Diego, and Redwood are climbing up the plates to Ellie when Diego sees her up ahead. "There she is!"

"Ellie!" Manny calls out.

"Manny!" She shouts back.

Redwood smiles that she's safe but that smile fades when she hears a noise and looks to the side to see Guanlongs dinosaurs. "Uh, guys. I don't think we're the only ones trying to reach her. Look!" She points to the creatures, who are now climbing up towards Ellie, intending to eat her.

Manny gets more worried by this. "I need to get to her!"

Diego turns to him, already having a plan in mind. "Listen! Redwood will come with me and we'll protect Ellie. You stop those guys!"

Just like before with Buck, Manny isn't too confident about the idea. "But..."

"Manny, if they reach her, it'll be too late. You have to trust me". Diego tells him.

Manny is still unsure about this. But as he sees the Guanlongs getting closer to Ellie, he puts on a determined look and decides to go with the plan. "Alright. Let's do it".

"Great to know you're onboard. Come on, Diego". Redwood and Diego run off to protect Ellie while Manny heads off to take care of the other incoming Guanlongs.

One of those dinos runs and climbs onto the plates, trying to make its way to Ellie. While it's doing so, it's being followed closely by Diego and Redwood. They both climb to the top and jump from plate to plate, making sure to stay hot on the Guanlong's tail.

However, the dino seems to be way faster than the two of them. They try to pick up their speed but midway through the chase, Diego's vision starts to blur again and he begins getting tired. Redwood continues running but then looks back to see Diego slowing down again.

"No, no, no! Not again! Diego come on!" She yells behind her as she keeps running.

Diego still slows down, feeling more and more exhausted. But instead of stopping like before, he forces himself to shake off the feeling and keep on running, roaring aggressively as his tiredness is switched with determination.

Redwood sees the change in his behavior and is greatly impressed when he manages to sprint pass her and after the dino. "Go Diego, go!" She cheers for him.

The Guanlong reaches Ellie and hisses at her, but thankfully Diego jumps into view and knocks it off the ledge, watching as it falls. Redwood comes in soon after and has a very proud expression on her face for the saber. "You did it!"

Diego cheers along with her. "Whoo! My paws are burning baby! They're burning! I gotta tip-toe! Tippy-toe! Tippy-toe!"

"Excuse me, Twinkle Toes! Giving birth here!" Ellie interrupts the moment.

Diego and Redwood remember why they're even there and stop celebrating. "Oh, right. Sorry. You okay?" Diego asks Ellie, now feeling concerned.

She keeps groaning in pain. "Am I okay?! Do you know anything about childbirth?!"

"No, not really. But Manny's coming". Redwood reassures her.

Meanwhile, Manny rams a Guanlong into a rock and knocks it out as more Guanlongs appear and get ready to fight against him.

Back with Diego and Redwood, Ellie's pain starts to get worse. "Diego, I'm scared! Can I hold your paw?"

Diego hesitates a bit but allows it. "Yeah, of course". Ellie grips his paw tightly as she groans in pain again. Though with how hard she's squeezing Diego's paw, she's not the only one.

"Just go with the pain". Diego says, but Redwood is unsure if he means Ellie or himself.

Suddenly, Ellie lets go and starts screaming.

"It's just a contraction". Diego tells her.

"No!" Ellie screams again, this time while pointing behind them.

Diego turns and sees another Guanlong has made it on the plate. It charges at them but Redwood takes out her spear and uses it to push the dino off the ledge. Once it's down, she looks over the edge and sees more coming.

"Oh jeez", she mutters.

Diego rushes next to her and sees why she's worried. "Whoa!"

*Back at Lava Falls*

Meanwhile, Buck, Crash, Eddie, and Avery are still riding the Pteradon toward Lava Falls. Eventually, Crash spots Sid jumping from platform to platform, trying to avoid going over the falls.

"Look! He's right there!" He tells the group.

"Roger!" Buck says.

"No! Sid!" Eddie corrected him. Or so he thought, as he and Crash believed Buck was talking about another person.

"I know! Roger!" Buck repeats.

"How about we get Sid first and then go back from Roger?" Crash asks.

"Ugh! Never mind that! Let's just go get Sid!" Avery intervenes.

They fly on toward Lava Falls but as they fly over a canyon, a bunch of red and blue Quetzalcoatlus see the small group and begin to fly after them.

Avery glances over her shoulder and becomes nervous when she sees them coming their way. "Uh, Buck?" She tries to get his attention. "We've got company!"

Buck looks behind them and gasps. A giant flock of Quetzalcoatlus were on their tail. One of them squawks to the others and they dive toward Buck, Crash, Eddie, and Avery. Three of the dinos try to get at them but the group manages to dodge out of the way. Buck then tries to steer them away from the falls and heads through a cave, which led into a canyon.

Eddie notices the direction change and tries to make Buck turn back. "No, no, no! Buck! Buck, wait! Wait! Sid's that way!"

"Tell that to them!" Buck gestures to the flying dinosaurs.

One Quetzalcoatlus opens its jaws and screeches while heading towards them.

*Back at the Plates*

A Guanlong jumps onto Manny and he gets it off by slamming it against a wall. "Bring it on, you chicken-headed freaks!"

As a group of more Guanlongs runs out of a cave, Manny pushes a boulder in front of the entrance, blocking it. The dinos snap at him as they struggle to get out. Just then, Manny sees more Guanlongs climbing towards the others, so he runs off, causing the boulder to release the Guanlongs he tried to trap.

Manny rams into the roots of the plate, causing it to fall with the group of dinos still on it. The plate starts to collapse towards the cave's entrance where the other Guanlongs were, making them run back inside. Afterwards, the entrance was completely blocked by the fallen plate and Guanlongs finally stopped coming in. However, there were a couple more to worry about.

Back with Diego and Redwood, the two tried their best to calm Ellie down. "Don't worry about a thing. You're doing fine". Diego tells her.

Redwood looks to the side and sees yet another Guanlong has reached them. "It's going great. Uh, excuse me for a second". She rushes over and hits the Guanlong on the head with her spear, causing it to fall. She starts to run back to Ellie and Diego but another dino grabs her by the leg and pulls her off the ledge.

"Redwood!" Ellie and Diego both shout, feeling greatly concerned for the human.

Redwood reappears on the ledge with two dinos trying to bite her. She holds them back with her spear in their mouths and glances back at Ellie and Diego with a reassuring look. "I'm fine! Just breathe, Ellie! That's the important thing!" She pushes the Guanlongs off of her, only to get pounced on by another one and fall to the bottom of the plates again.

*Back at Lava Falls*

Buck, Crash, Eddie, and Avery were still trying to get away from the Quetzalcoatlus as they quickly flew through the canyon. Trying to think of a way to get rid of these things, Avery and Buck looked around for something to help them. Eventually, both their eyes landed on a spot in the canyon that had a bunch of berries growing on a branch.

They looked at each other and nodded, knowing that they were having the same idea.

"Grab that ammo!" Buck ordered as he flew them closer to the spot.

Avery grabbed Eddie by his tail as he inched closer to the wing's edge. He reaches out and successfully manages to grab the berries from the branch, (revealing Scrat and Scratte as they pass). Avery pulled him back and they began loading the berries on Crash's tail to use as a slingshot.

"Bogey, three o'clock! Fire!" Crash exclaimed.

Avery and Eddie did so and fired the berries, which produced a yellow smoke as they hit the Quetzalcoatlus, knocking them out of the sky one by one.

"This! Is! Awesome!!!" Eddie yelled with every shot he took, meanwhile Avery laughed as the moment was giving her an adrenaline rush.

The female weasel then spotted another Quetzalcoatlus approaching them and getting too close. "Incoming, guys!"

"Light it up!" Crash shouted. They launched the last berry just as the dino opened its mouth and screeched, which resulted in it blowing up like a balloon and sputtering away. The trio cheered victoriously at this.

"Yeah!"

"Whoo!"

"Hasta la vista, birdy!"

Meanwhile, Sid was still trying his best not to fall off the falls by jumping from rock to rock, each one being smaller than the last. The last one he jumped on had a stick and he tried to use it to row away from the falls but it ended up catching on fire. He tried to put it out but he burned his foot in the process.

Back with the small group, they begin to fly back toward Lava Falls. Buck looks back at the others. "Let's get our sloth--"

Just then, a final Quetzalcoatlus collides with the Pteranodon they were riding, sending it spiraling downwards at an alarmingly fast rate.

"We're hit! We're hit! Mayday! Mayday! We're losing altitude!" Buck taps the Pteradon's eye. He then gives the reins to Avery. "Hold these!" He quickly climbs down onto the Pteradon's face and starts giving it mouth-to-mouth to wake it back up. "Ugh! Tastes like fish!" He comments disgustedly before continuing.

"Okay! That's just weird!" Eddie says while watching that.

Avery then pulls on the reigns as hard as she can to try and steer them back up but unfortunately, nothing happens. This causes the brothers to hug each other, thinking it was the end for them.

"I love you, bro!" Eddie tells Crash.

"I know!"

"Come on! Come on! I am NOT dying like this! Not now!" Avery shouts feeling more upset than scared.

Buck stops with the mouth-to-mouth and starts getting frustrated. "Snap out of it! Come on!" He punches the Pteradon's nose and it finally wakes up, screeching as it sees the danger it's in.

Buck climbs back onto its back and pulls on the reigns with Avery; Crash and Eddie join in to help as well. "Pull!" He yells. All four of them strain as they pull with all the strength they had while the ground got closer and closer.

Luckily at the last second, they manage to pull up just in time, flying merely above the ground before going upwards. As they flew up Lava Falls, the last of the Quetzalcoatlus fly straight into it, getting burned alive.

Meanwhile Sid, who's now completely out of options on how to escape, sees that he's approaching the edge of the falls and starts to accept his fate. "This is the end of Sid the Sloth!"

He goes over the edge, screaming as he falls. However, just as it seemed like he was gone for good, the Pteranodon grabs Sid, saving him just in time.

Sid stopped screaming when he realized he wasn't falling anymore and looked up at the dino as they flew. But this only caused him to continue screaming. "HELP!"

"No, Sid! It's me!" Crash smiled as he peeked his head over the dino to look at Sid. Eddie and Avery did the same, with even Buck joining in at the end.

"And me!"

"And me!"

"And me!"

Sid stammers a bit. "I don't wanna panic anybody, but who's flying this thing?!"

"Oops!"

They crash into the ice above that separated their world from the dinosaur world. Two animals see the group through the ice and watch as they peel off and fall back down, making the animals look at each other in confusion.

Thankfully, Pteranodon didn't pass out again from that crash and flew normally over the jungle. Crash, Eddie, Buck, and Avery cheered for the successful rescue. While the possums fist-bumped each other, Avery threw her arms around Buck and hugged him while laughing happily. He couldn't really hug her back though since he needed to stay in control of the Pteranodon while it was flying, but he still responded by laughing along with her.

"We actually did it," Avery said, pulling away from the hug as she and Buck smiled sweetly at each other, getting lost in the moment. Just then, Avery did something that practically shocked everyone.

She place her paw on the side of Buck's face, leaned in, and softly kissed him on the lips.

Crash and Eddie saw this and gasped dramatically at the same time, their faces hilariously looking surprised.

As for Buck, this caught him completely off guard. The kiss on his cheek from before was sweet and made him happy, but this one struck on a whole different level for him. It made the adrenaline-like feeling from before return but this time it felt way stronger and he could've sworn his heart exploded from this moment.

Avery pulled away and it was when she saw Buck's face that she realized what she did. He just stood frozen and stared at her wide-eyed while also being at a loss for words. It made her think she might've gone too far.

"Oh no! Was that too much? I'm so so sorry!" She panicked. "I just... I thought it wa--"

She was abruptly cut off when Buck began smiling and returned the kiss on her lips. This time it was Avery who was in shock, but she quickly reciprocated and hugged him as her eyes fluttered shut.

Crash and Eddie gasped again but deeper this time. They even tried (and failed) to cover each other's eyes.

Sadly, the kiss had to be cut short when the Pteranodon suddenly jerked upwards and brought the two weasels back into reality. Buck pulled on the reigns with Avery still hugging him and steered the dino back on course.

"Can you two do this when we're back on the ground, please?" Eddie asked, as he and his brother almost fell off the dino because of this.

"Yeah, eyes in the air!" Crash agreed.

"Guys, what's going on?" Sid asked from below, unable to see any of what just happened.

Buck grinned sheepishly at them. "Sorry boys! My thoughts were... elsewhere. But don't worry, they're back now".

Avery pulled away from Buck and allowed him to fly them back to the others. She gave him an apologetic look but he reassured her it was okay with a small smile.

Meanwhile, Sid looked over the jungle they were passing and saw Eggbert, Shelly, and Yoko trying to follow him, only to stop at the edge of a ledge. "No, no! Wait! Wait! My kids!" He calls out.

As they fly farther away, the baby dinos cry out for Sid in sadness and even Momma T-Rex roars in dismay about him leaving.

"I never even got to say goodbye". Sid says sadly. The group flies on and makes their way back to Manny, Diego, and the others.

*Back at the Plates*

Diego takes deep breaths while trying to push some Guanlongs off the ledge with a log, but it's very difficult.

"You can do it! Push! Push!" Ellie urges him.

"I can't do it!" Diego grunts.

"Just one more big push!"

"You have no idea what I'm going through!" He tells her. The Guanlongs snap at them as they push against it and Diego takes back what he said. "Okay! Forget I said that! Let's do this together!"

Working together, they push the Guanlongs off the ledge. The dinos land on the ground and one of them roars in rage only to be picked up in the log by Manny, who sticks the other end onto the top of the other.

"I liked you guys better when you were extinct!" He says angrily.

Redwood delivers the final blow by kicking the log over the edge of a cliff, causing the two Gaunlongs to fall over. With finally no more dinos to worry about, Manny and Redwood make their way up to Ellie and Diego, who are breathing together in an attempt to calm her down.

Diego stops midway however due to feeling lightheaded. "I'm getting dizzy".

Manny grunts while trying to climb the plate, which catches Diego's attention. "Manny!" He runs over to help him up. "Come on, buddy! I think we're getting close!"

Diego pulls Manny onto the ledge while Redwood climbs up herself. Just then, a sound of crying was suddenly heard, causing the three to stop for a second.

Knowing exactly what it was, Manny slowly made his way to Ellie, who then shows her newborn baby to the others. It was a tiny baby female mammoth, who began looking at Manny with big wide eyes.

Tearing up with happiness, he reached out for the baby and she held his trunk with a smile on her face, cooing and nuzzling it as well. Manny then picked her up gently, feeling nothing but the pure joy of having his child with him now.

"She's perfect". He says. "I think we should call her Ellie. Little Ellie".

"I've got a better name. Peaches". Ellie suggests.

Manny gets confused for a second. "Peaches?"

"Why not? She's sweet and round and covered with fuzz". Ellie points out.

"Peaches. I love it". Manny smiles.

Feeling curious, Redwood slowly walks over to the mammoths and looks at Manny for permission to see Peaches. He gives her a nod of approval and she walks over to Peaches. "Hi little one", she greets the baby. "My name is Redwood".

She reaches her hand out to her and Peaches holds onto it, nuzzling it like she did with Manny. This leaves Redwood in awe and she begins feeling as joyful as Manny.

"I think she likes you", Ellie says.

"You really think so?" Redwood asks. "This is so cool!"

Manny chuckles at her giddiness. "You're gonna be a great big sister".

Redwood gasps at this and almost looked like she had stars in her eyes. She's always wanted siblings ever since they left Roshan with his tribe. And now with Peaches being born, she finally will get her wish.

Diego watches the wholesomeness and happiness of the little family. It was enough to get him emotional and he wipes away a tear with his paw.

"I saw that, tough guy," Ellie says smugly.

"No, no, that last dino caught my eye with a claw and..." Realizing there's no point in making excuses, Diego admits defeat. "Alright, so I'm not made of stone".

"We already knew that, buddy". Redwood smirks.

"Incoming!"

The Pteranodon flies into view and the group sees not only Buck, Avery, and the possums, but also Sid.

"It's Sid!" Manny cheers.

The dino drops Sid on the ledge while it made a safer landing for the others.

"Ow!" The sloth lands roughly on the ground but quickly gets back up when he sees Peaches. "It's a boy!"

"That's its tail". Diego corrects him.

"It's a girl!" Sid walks over to Peaches. "Oh hi, sweetheart! Hello, hello, it's Uncle Sid! Yes, it is! Oh, you're so beautiful! Oh, she is! She looks just like her mother! Thank goodness". He nervously laughs but gets scared when he sees Manny. "Oh, no offense, Manny, no offense! No, you're beautiful on the inside!"

Manny, not really feeling offended, rubs Sid's head with his trunk. "It's good to have you back, Sid".

"Never thought I would say this but I missed you, buddy". Diego adds.

"Hey, don't forget me! I'm the one who still believed he would be alive", Avery walks over to the boys.

"Yeah, sure you were", Manny says sarcastically.

"Sid!" Redwood rushes over and hugs the sloth. "We thought we'd never see you again!"

"Hey it's okay, kid", Sid comfortingly hugs the human back. "I'm here now".

They break away from the hug once Ellie puts Peaches on the ground. She slumps down before standing back up.

"Now I wish my kids were here. You could've been friends". Sid tells Redwood and Peaches.

"Ellie!"

Crash and Eddie scurries over to the herd and look at Peaches. Eddie makes baby noises at her while Crash gets emotional. "I promised myself I wouldn't cry".

"I didn't". Eddie cries loudly and blows his nose on Crash's tail, who looks at his brother annoyed and snatches it away from him.

Avery takes a look at the baby next and smiles. "Hello sweetie". Peaches coos happily at her and Avery giggles before looking at her parents. "Manny, Ellie, you better have taken some notes from me and Redwood. You're both in for some adventure in parenting".

"Hey, we helped you raise her. I think we can manage", Manny tells her.

Meanwhile, Buck saw smiled softly at the baby and even had a reminiscent expression. "I forgot what it was like to be part of a family". He then looked at Avery, who turned to him upon hearing his words. "What about you? Ever thought about having kids?"

"I already have one", she gestures to Redwood. "But if you mean biologically, you're gonna have to take me to dinner first. We just had a kiss and I'm not that kind of girl". She smirks, her confidence and sassiness finally returning now that she knows Buck might actually like her back.

The rest of the herd sees this and all of them, (besides Ellie and Redwood), give out puzzled looks.

"Did I miss something?" Sid asked.

"Only that our girl, Avery, was crushing on Buck the entire journey". Ellie answered. "But now it looks like the feeling is mutual".

"What?!" Manny and Diego shouted in shock.

"Wow, you guys really didn't pay any attention, did you?" Redwood crossed her arms.

"I don't know if I'm okay with this", Manny says.

"Me neither", Diego agrees.

"I know how you guys feel", Redwood tells them. "I had mixed feelings about this too. But I learned to accept it. Sure, Buck isn't the most sane guy, but he's still a great guy, and Avery really seems to love him".

Manny frowns. "I still don't--"

"Just let them have this. They seem happy and maybe you'll get used to it. After all, how could you judge Avery falling for a crazy survivalist weasel when you fell for a mammoth who believed she was a possum?... Uh, no offense Ellie". Redwood said.

"It's fine. You trying to make a point", Ellie shrugs.

Manny and Diego look at Avery and Buck, who seemed to be talking with each other. Buck whispered something into Avery's ear and whatever it was made her blush bashfully and caused her to playfully push him away, making Buck laugh.

The boys glance at each other and sigh, with Diego speaking up first. "She's not wrong. Avery does seem happier".

"Alright fine", Manny groans as he accepts this was happening. "But if he tries to hurt her, I'll kill him".

"And I'll join you on that", Diego says. Redwood and Ellie roll their eyes at the boys. They appreciate their protectiveness of Avery, but the girl can handle herself if anything goes wrong.

Finishing up their conversation, Buck walks towards the herd. "Alright, mammals. Let's get you home".

"You heard the weasel. Come on". Avery adds.

With their rescue of finding Sid now complete, plus a few loose ends being tied with Peaches being born along with Avery and Buck getting together, the herd follows Buck back to where they first entered this dangerous yet wonderful world of dinosaurs.

Chapter Text

"This is it, mammals. Right where you started". Buck stated as he led the herd back to where they entered the dino world. "This was fun! We could make it a regular thing".

Ellie chuckles. "I don't know about that".

"Right! Right. Yes, because of all the, uh, mortal peril, of course". Buck said before stopping in front of the entrance. "Oh, well. The Buck stops here".

Manny smiled. "We couldn't have done it without you".

"Well, obviously. But good times just the sa..." Buck stops as he suddenly feels breathing behind him. "We're not alone are we?"

Giant red eyes from inside the cave's entrance open up and stare at the herd, who all gasp in fright. Buck spins around and backs up, standing protectively in front of the group while a wicked grin spreads across his face. "Hello, Rudy".

A massive albino Baryonyx emerges from the cave, glaring down at the herd before letting out an ear-splitting roar.

"Run!"

Everyone runs away from the vicious beast as it tries to eat them, but they manage to avoid Rudy's jaws before he could chomp down on any of them. Unfortunately, he ends up cornering the herd and is prepared to finish them off. But before he could harm them, Buck begins shouting at the horrid creature, gaining its attention.

"Over here, you colossal fossil!" Buck holds his knife in front of Rudy, slightly taunting him. "Looking for something?"

Rudy licks at a spot where his missing tooth used to be and begins charging at Buck, ready to get his revenge on the weasel.

"Why don't you come and get it?" He smirks before looking at the herd. "To the cave! Go!" Buck leads Rudy away as the group hurries to the cave's entrance. But instead of leaving, they decide to go and help Buck.

"Stay with the baby". Manny tells Ellie.

"We'll be fine. Go". She reassures him.

"Alright, let's go save Buck, guys!" Avery announces.

Redwood is about to go along with them but she gets stopped by Manny, who picks her up with his trunk and sets her next to Ellie. "Not you! You stay here!"

"What?! Again?!" She complains.

Manny, Diego, Sid, and Avery ignore her frustration and run off to save their friend. They pass the Ankylosaurus that attacked them earlier, but now it seemed to be cowering because of Rudy.

Diego takes a minute to stop and insult it. "Wuss!"

Meanwhile, Rudy continued chasing Buck, who was diving in and out of the trees trying to avoid him. He lands on the ground and keeps running while Rudy tries to squish him with his feet, but misses twice before finally managing to score a direct hit. Buck's knife lands on the ground and Rudy smiles down at his foot, thinking he's won.

But then Buck pops out from between his toes and taunts him again. "Pop goes the weasel!" He jumps out of Rudy's toes and grabs his knife before running again.

Unfortunately, Rudy tried a different way to catch him by slamming his tail on the ground, which launched Buck into the air and had him plummeting back down, making him an easy target for the beast. But just as Rudy was about to swallow him whole, Avery came in swinging on a vine and grabbed Buck right before Rudy's jaws snap shut.

She let go of the vine and the two landed on the ground. Avery somehow was able to make a smooth landing on her feet while holding Buck bridal style, very similar to how he held her before. "Consider this payment for the rescues you did for me", she said while placing him down. 

As soon as Manny, Sid, and Diego appeared, Buck got an idea and ran over to a pile of shrubs, which turned out to actually be a group of moths. "Shoo! Shoo! Come on! Move!"

The moths flew into the sky, swarming around Rudy and distracting him.

Meanwhile, Manny ran near the giant dino with some vines. "Diego!" He yelled as he dodged Rudy's foot and tossed a vine to the saber. "Catch!"

"Got it!" Diego caught the vine and began running around Rudy, the plan being to tie him up and temporarily stop him.

Buck and Avery had some vines as well and the two swung around the massive dino, tying his mouth shut. Everyone did their part and continued to tie Rudy up in the vines, being cautious of his feet and claws so no one got hurt.

"Through the hole. Over the valley. One more loop..." Sid said while neatly tying knots around Rudy's foot.

"Come on, lads! Heave!" Buck shouted.

Manny, Diego, and Avery strained as they pulled, tightening the vines wrapped around Rudy and bringing him to his knees. Buck let go of his vine and landed on the ground, only a few inches in front of where Rudy collapsed completely.

He walked over to the now immobilized beast and patted his snout calmly. "Better luck next time, Snowflake". Buck then turned to the others and began running with them. "This isn't gonna hold him long! Let's go!"

"Hold up, guys!" Sid yelled, lagging behind. He accidentally trips over one of the vines holding Rudy down and lands right in front of him. As he gets up, Rudy opens one of his eyes and looks at Sid, who screams and backs up.

Unfortunately, Buck was right and Rudy stood up, breaking his ties easily. He then looks at Sid, who tries to crawl away on his back, and decides to come after him first. Sid screams the loudest he's ever had as he believes this was really the end for him.

Suddenly, a rock gets thrown at Rudy's face, which makes the dinosaur turn around. He expected it to be Buck again, but instead, the beast saw Redwood standing behind him, holding her parents' spear with a fearless and angry expression on her face.

"No! You don't touch him, you don't touch anybody!" She yells at him. Full-on confidence and rage could be heard in her voice with no fear in sight. "I've got a family I'm trying to protect here! You want to get violent, you old fossil?! WELL COME ON! You better have a plan to kill me though, BECAUSE IT'S ME BEFORE ANYONE ELSE IN HERE!!!"

Rudy roars loudly and makes his way toward Redwood, who doesn't even attempt to run away. The others see this and they all become the most scared they ever had been for the human's life. Avery even tries to run to her, but she's held back by Buck.

Before Rudy could kill Redwood, she shouts as if she's signaling someone. "Now!"

Completely out of nowhere, Momma T-Rex arrives just in time and pushes Rudy backwards into the jungle, saving the human girl, (and by extension, everyone else).

"Way to go, Momzilla!" Sid cheers.

Momma T-Rex continued to push Rudy back until she finally shoved him against a giant boulder, causing it to break and fall over a ledge into an abyss, carrying the dreaded beast along with it.

Everyone watches as Rudy roars again, disappearing into the darkness. No one even noticed Buck's shocked reaction as this was happening.

Once he was gone, Momma T-Rex began roaring in triumph, with Eggbert, Shelly, and Yoko copying her, and even Sid tried to get in on this.

Afterwards, he walked over to the group of T-Rexes and watched them fondly. Momma T-Rex and the baby dinos look at Sid before Eggbert, Shelly and Yoko run over to him.

"Come here, kids. Well, let me tell you something. You're where you belong now. And I'm sure you're gonna grow up to be giant, horrifying dinosaurs. Just like your mother". He says as Momma T-Rex smiles. She lowers her head to Sid while he walks over to her. "And Momma... take good care of our kids".

Momma T-Rex gives Sid a slobbery but affectionate lick in response. Eggbert, Shelly, and Yoko then gather sadly around the sloth and lovingly cuddle against him, giving him one last goodbye before Momma T-Rex called them over. The baby dinos run after her and Yoko scratches his back before carrying on.

Sid watches as they leave, the bittersweetness of this making him feel happy at first, but his mood quickly turned sad.

Manny tried to comfort the poor guy by placing his trunk on his shoulder. "You were a good parent, Sid".

"Thanks". Sid said before getting an idea. "Can I babysit for you?"

Manny walked away as he said this. "Not a chance. That job is going to Avery".

"Come on. I work cheap compared to her!"

"Alright. I'll think about it".

Sid hugs Manny's tusk before walking off. "Yes!"

"Never happening". The mammoth says once Sid is out of earshot.

Just then, Avery rushes over to Redwood and hugs her leg, giving her a relieved expression that still had a little bit of terror in it. "Don't you ever do that again! You gave all of us a heart attack!"

"It's fine, Avery. I'm still alive. Look, I followed you guys and saw everything that went down. Although I had to take another route so you guys couldn't see me, but that's when I saw the T-Rex that took Sid coming here. I had a plan and all I needed was for Rudy to take a few steps back. See? It all worked out". Redwood tried to calm her down, but it didn't work.

"But still, you shouldn't be putting yourself in danger like this! We had things under control and Manny told you to stay with Ellie!"

The human sighs. "Look, I know what I did was a little risky..."

"A little?" Diego questioned as he, Manny, and Sid walked over to Redwood, still feeling shaken up about earlier.

"...Okay, incredibly risky. But you saw how that thing almost got Sid. We just got him back and I wasn't ready to lose him again. At least not like that". She says somberly. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't stay put. But you guys are my family, and I wanna protect you the same way you wanna protect me. You understand, right?"

The herd glances around at each other, all thinking differently about how to respond to this. It was very dangerous what she did, but at the same time, she actually managed to have a plan instead of just jumping into action like she would before. This didn't take long to think over and eventually, after a few seconds of silence, Diego decided to speak up. "As long you promise to never pull a stunt like that again, I think we can maybe look past this".

"Really?", Redwood asks.

"None of us like the idea of you being in danger, but if you can think things over and actually tell us about it, then I think we can allow you to help us in times like this". Avery adds.

"I promise. I'll be more careful from now on", Redwood says.

"I doubt it". Manny mumbles before getting hit on the side by Avery. "What?"

Diego shook his head at this but now with that issue dealt with, he then took notice that Buck wasn't with them. The saber looked around and spotted the male weasel looking down over the edge of where Rudy fell.

"He's gone". Buck stated. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"That's easy. Come with us". Ellie said while walking over with the others.

"You mean up there?" Buck looked confused and started taking a moment to think about it. "Huh. I never thought of going back. I've been down here so long, it feels like up to me. I'm not sure I can fit in up there anymore".

"So? Look at us. Do we look like a normal herd to you?" Diego asked.

As soon as he says that, the entire herd all gave the cheesiest smiles ever, except for Sid, who isn't paying much attention. Manny whacks him with his trunk and Sid gets the memo to smile along with them.

Despite the weirdness of that moment, Buck began smiling softly at the herd and accepted their offer to go with them. Afterwards, they all began walking back to where they entered the dino world.

While doing so, Buck walked next to Avery, who gave him a welcomed smile. He smiles back at her and wraps an arm around her shoulder as they kept walking, pulling her slightly closer to him in a gentle and sweet way.

He may have lost his greatest enemy, but he has now gained a group of friends, along with a loving mate, to call his own.

Chapter Text

Later, the herd makes their way back across the skeleton bridge to the surface. Peaches is holding onto Ellie's tail, the same way a kid would hold their mother's hand, and Sid does the same with Manny. Though it's mostly because he's already tired from the walking.

As they continue walking, Buck stops to turn around and look at his home one last time before solemnly looking at his knife. With it being the last thing left of Rudy, Buck knew exactly what to do with it next.

"So long, big guy". He sticks his knife into the ground of the skeleton bridge and pats the handle.

Avery sees his gloomy state and walks to his side to comfort him. She puts her paw on his shoulder and gives him a reassuring smile, which he returns before the two of them turn away to move on with the rest of the herd.

But then, just as they took a couple of steps, a very familiar roar echoed in the distance, causing everyone to freeze and look back.

"That's our cue! Come on, Peaches", Manny said, hurrying his daughter while everyone else followed.

Everyone but Buck that is.

"He's alive", Buck's ears perk up and he grins, feeling a mixture of relief and excitement over the fact that Rudy survived.

"Really?" Avery says in surprise.

Diego and Redwood look behind them and take notice that the two weasels weren't following the rest of the herd. "Buck?" Diego calls out.

"Avery?" Redwood does the same.

Buck's expression suddenly drops when he remembers that he had already agreed to come with the others back to their home. "I... I gotta..." He struggles to explain himself. He was torn about what he should do.

Avery sees this and, even though this was making her heart ache terribly, she didn't want Buck to be unhappy by making a hard decision. "...I get it. Go on".

"What?" Buck gives her a questionable look.

"Go on", Avery forces herself to smile. "You seem happy when your down there and I don't wanna take that away from you. Not that you ever needed it, but I give you permission to go back".

Buck's confusion turns into realization... right before it turns into pain.

Avery, the one (non-fake and actual living) person that he has grown to love, was already prepared to split up with him just so he can be happy. It was sweet just as much as it was heartbreaking.

It even made his decision and torn thoughts worse, as he knew going back would also mean leaving her behind. He didn't want to do that. He couldn't do that.

"Avery, love, I...", He wanted to say something, he really did. But this was just becoming harder by the second.

"It's fine, Buck. I'll be fine", Avery assured him as she grabbed his hand into hers, but the emotional crack in her voice said otherwise. "Just... don't you worry about a thing. We belong in different worlds anyway".

Diego and Redwood were watching this from the sidelines and saw how hard this was for the both of them to see. It isn't easy to part ways with a loved one, but right now it needed to be done.....

"Go", Redwood said.

Buck and Avery look at her as she spoke up.

"Redwood, listen, we-"

The human doesn't let Buck finish. "I don't mean you... I mean her". She points in Avery's direction, leaving her, Buck, and Diego shocked.

"Excuse me... What?!" Avery gives a perplexed look.

Redwood smirks. "I'm sure I spoke clearly. I said go. Go with him".

Nobody knew what to say to this.

Redwood, the girl who recently was scared to lose her herd, the girl who was angry at Diego for leaving, the girl who was close to dying just to protect Sid, was allowing Avery to leave and go with Buck.

A shocking turn of events this was.

"I-I... W-wait... No... no no no no no... R-Redwood, I can't just--", Avery tried to speak.

"Yes, you can". Redwood kneeled down on one knee as she spoke. "Listen, you love him. It was easy to tell from the get-go. And you guys just got together. It would be harsh to split you up immediately afterwards".

Avery turns to Buck. Redwood was right that she did love him. Plus staying with him in the Dino world seemed very exciting. But there were still issues clouding up her mind.

"B-but what about the others? What about you? You especially, you're my kid. They're our herd, I can't just up and leave you guys like this", She said sadly.

"I'm sure the others would understand. Maybe Manny would complain, but he'll hopefully understand too", Diego joins the conversation. "And Redwood is our kid. Like Manny said, we helped you raise her. And we'll always watch over her".

Redwood looks at Diego, smiling happily at his statement before turning back to Avery. "A few days ago, I would give anything to not have any of you leave me. And for things not to change. I was scared that if we split apart, I would have to be alone. I was scared we would stop caring about each other. But now... I'm not scared anymore. I didn't realize until recently that just because change happens, it doesn't mean it's bad. You all have done so much for me these past years. So let me do this for you".

Avery began tearing up. This was probably the most mature Redwood has been... at all since these last few days. She was starting to grow up and it was nice to see.

Avery then jumped into Redwood's arms and the two shared a heartfelt hug while also starting to cry. Diego looked like he was gonna tear up again at this and Buck looked at the two girls with an emotional expression.

"Listen to me, after today, just know this. You will always be my kid. Like your parents, I will always love you. I wish only the best for you and the others", Avery says calmly through her tears. "And... I'll greatly miss you all".

They pull away from the hug and Redwood wipes her own tears. "Like a wise yet crazy weasel once told me, 'no matter what happens, no matter how far away we go, our herd, including me, will always love you and each other. Because nothing will be able to break the bond we managed to build together."

Avery smiles but then has a realization when she heard 'wise yet crazy weasel'. She looked back at Buck, who nodded to confirm that it was definitely him who said that.

With a heavy heart, Avery slowly but surely stepped away from Redwood and stood next to Buck, who took his turn saying goodbye to the human.

"Redwood, it was a pleasure meeting you. We may have not had enough time to properly know each other, but the time we did have will be something I won't forget". He says. "You're very special. And someday I wish to have a kid just like you".

"You're a great guy too, Buck", Redwood responds. "Promise me you'll take care of Avery. She's a tough one, but it's nice to know that she has someone by her side".

"Now that's a promise I wouldn't dream of breaking", He grins before turning to look at Diego. "Take care of them, tiger".

Diego smiles back. "Always listen to Buck".

"We're almost out!" Sid's voice echoed as everyone else exited the cave.

Diego and Redwood hear him and give both Avery and Buck one last glance goodbye before turning around and heading off to catch up with the others.

Avery waved goodbye and sniffled a bit, right before looking at Buck, who put his hand on the side of her face and began gently wiping away her tears. "Are you okay?" He asked her.

Avery paused for a bit and took a deep breath. "Yeah, I think I'll be okay. This was just a hard thing for me to do".

"I understand", Buck tells her.

"And also... this may be pretty obvious already with all that's happened but... I... I love you. A lot", Avery confessed. "And I can't wait to keep having adventures with you".

Buck pulled her into a loving embrace and the two shared another kiss. "I love you too. And from this day forth, I promise to do whatever it takes to keep you safe and happy. No matter what".

"Just don't get too overprotective", Avery smirks before kissing his cheek. She then breaks away from the hug and walks over to pull Buck's knife out of the ground. She hands it over to him and he tosses it in the air before catching it.

He then walks over to a vine and holds his hand out to Avery. "Ready?"

"Nope", Avery smirks jokingly. After a second of silence, she speaks again. "Let's do it".

Instead of grabbing his hand however, she grabs onto another vine and gives him a ready look. Buck uses his knife to cut both their vines and the two begin swinging over the skeleton bridge.

"Rudyyyy!" Buck cheered as he and Avery swing along, cutting more and more vines as they go. This caused the skeleton bridge to fall completely into the cavern below, and made the cave collapse as well, sealing up the entrance to the lost jungle. Thankfully, the two weasels made it to the other side safe and sound.

Although, the bridge's destruction was spreading to the rest of the cave where Diego and Redwood were at. The two ran while dodging falling rocks as they left.

They soon make it back to the surface, meanwhile the others watch as white steam emerges, followed by Diego and Redwood.

"Whew! That was a lot!" Redwood commented.

"Is everybody okay?" Manny asked the herd.

"Where's Buck?" Eddie questioned, not seeing the male weasel with them.

"And where's Avery?" Ellie asked next.

Diego looks back at the now destroyed cave and gives a soft smile.
"Don't worry. They're where they want to be"

"Are they going to be okay?" Crash asked, feeling concerned.

"Are you kidding? Nothing can kill those weasels. It's Rudy I'm worried about", Diego says. "Also, Avery says she wishes the best for us. And that she'll miss all of us".

The group share looks about the fact that they were now down not just any member, but a friend. Avery was a great friend to most of them and going on without her won't be easy. If she means it when she says she'll miss them, then the feelings from the herd's side were mutual.

Keeping this in mind, the herd then notices Redwood still staring at the cave and Manny, Sid, and Diego walk to her side. "Hey, are you okay?" Sid asked first.

Redwood closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before answering. "Yeah, I think I'll be fine. It's just... things are gonna be different now. I'm not used to it yet but... I will be soon".

"Don't worry. This is gonna be hard for us too", Manny tells her. "But... we'll get through it... as a family".

"...Yeah. I guess we will", Redwood says. She gives the cave one last glance before turning back.

The group hears Peaches cooing and their attention gets turned to her as Ellie puts her down in the snow. Peaches picks up some snow and shakes it off before playing in it. She then looks at Ellie, who smiles softly at her daughter.

Manny, Diego, and Redwood walk by each other while Manny decides to say something to Diego. "I know this baby makes three thing isn't for you, but, uh, whatever you decide to do..."

Redwood knows what he's implying and decides to join in. "I'm with Manny on this. If you wanna go, you can. I won't stop you, and... I'm sorry I was mad about it before. It was selfish of me".

"I'm not leaving, guys". Diego softly smiles at the two. "Life of adventure? It's right here".

Redwood gives him a shocked look while Manny speaks again. "Well, I got a... I got a whole speech here. I've been working on it. How can I show you that I'm strong and sensitive, noble yet caring..." He stops when Diego punches him on the shoulder. "Ow! Thanks".

"After what happened with Avery, I don't think we need another heartbreaking goodbye. Besides, someone has to watch over Redwood while you or Sid are busy", Diego says.

Redwood is touched by his decision and gives him a heartfelt hug. He's taken aback by this but allows it, feeling happy that she's no longer angry at him and that she, him, and Manny are back on good terms.

Once the hug was over, they look over and watch as Crash, Eddie, and Peaches play in the snow. Eddie falls over and makes a snow angel, which Peaches finds funny. She does it too, squashing Crash in the process. Peaches then stands up and sees Crash, who plays dead for a second before waking up and laughing with them.

Sid then joins the others with a grin on his face. "Ah, they grow so fast, huh? Look at my kids. Seems they were born one day and then gone the next".

"They were, Sid", Diego tells him.

"Yeah, it was a lot of work", Sid replies.

Redwood giggles at this "Well, it was fun while it lasted, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was. But now we have Peaches and also you're still a kid so...", Sid clarifies.

"Hey, things still are changing, Sid. They are changing", Redwood smiles.

A snowflake floats down to Peaches, who accidentally sucks it into her trunk before sneezing it back out. She still laughs however, feeling happy about her new home.

"That's right, sweetheart". Ellie tells her. "Welcome to the Ice Age".

Everyone gathers around Peaches like a family, all feeling happy and hopeful about what's in store for them in the near future. Especially now with some new changes to their herd.

Later, a new ice mobile is hung up in the playground, this time with ice sculptures of everyone on it, including Buck and Avery.

*Meanwhile*

Back in the dino world, Buck and Avery are together in the jungle, both riding Rudy like a couple of cowboys.

"Yee-haw!" Buck cheers.

"Whoo!" Avery does the same.

Rudy roars as he walks off into the jungle, with both the weasels in tow.

Chapter Text

How is it that an Ice Age fanfiction that I wrote about in the 1st grade and have updated to this day becomes my most popular book and one of the longest stories I've ever written about?

Life truly is strange...

(Also, it's only been 2 days since the last update and you all really got emotional over the last chapter...)

But anyway, it's time for me to do the... more hated movies in the franchise.

...Okay look, in my own opinion, I really enjoyed Ice Age 4 and 5, (NOT THE 6th ONE!!!). Seriously, these two movies, (including Dawn of the Dinosaurs), are things that my family likes to watch for movie nights.

I understand that people really don't like the 4th and 5th movies, and if you don't as well, I value and respect your opinion. But for me, I love these two movies. Yes, I know that they get crazier and more unrealistic as they go on (and maybe a bit dumber with the plot), but to me, that's where the charm comes in.

Besides, I think the realism of these movies stopped when the 3rd one happened and yet nobody complained about that.......

.......But enough of my stupid thoughts and unpopular opinions, let's get on with it.

_______________________________________

Anyway here is some quick info to know before I do the 4th movie.

- Redwood is going to be 17 years old in the next movie. It's about to be another 4 years for her, as she'll be turning 18 at some point in the 4th movie.

- Since Avery chose to stay with Buck, she won't be appearing in the 4th movie, but she will be mentioned a few times. Sorry for those who liked her character, you might have to wait until the 5th movie when she and Buck make a return.

- 2 new OCs will be introduced in this movie and I hope you guys like them.

- There is a possibility that Redwood will have a romantic partner in the next movie, but I'm still thinking about that.

_______________________________________

Thank you for listening, and see you soon for "Ice Age: Continental Drift".

Chapter Text

A few years have passed since the whole dinosaur incident happened. And a lot has changed since then.

Avery was no longer around, and while the herd had moved on from her decision to leave, they still miss her and remember her fondly. After all, she was their closest friend that stood with them the longest. Plus, her sassiness and maturity was nice to have once in a while.

As for Redwood, she has been going through some changes herself. She's becoming more stronger, both physically and emotionally. However despite this, she's still very much a teenager (17 years) and often has her moments reminding the others about that through a few mindless mistakes. But unbeknownst to some, her 18th birthday was around the corner and she would officially become an adult very soon.

Speaking of teenagers, Peaches, the herd's newest addition, was currently at the age of carefree teens. She and Redwood got along well and the two felt like actual sisters. However, until this point, helping Manny raise her was more difficult than expected, as she acted a bit differently compared to when Redwood was younger. It also didn't help with Manny being so overprotective of her all the time.

All of this was hard to get used to at first, but the herd learned to adapt and make the best of it. And so far, it really feels like these changes wouldn't be so bad after all...

That is... until something else new came along...

A loud rumbling noise was heard from the distance. In fact, it was so loud, it was actually enough to wake up Manny while he was sleeping.

"Huh? What was that?!" He spoke in a panic. "Ellie, did you hear that?"

"I heard it, Manny. Whatever it is, it's miles away", she calmly tells him.

"Peaches, Redwood, you two all right?" Manny walks over to a tree branch where he assumes Peaches would be. Unfortunately for him, she isn't there. And just as bad, Redwood wasn't anywhere near the tree either. "Where are they? No teenagers are ever up early."

Ellie chuckles. "Easy warden, they're not on lockdown".

Not really trying to relax about this, Manny heads over to Crash and Eddie, who are still asleep, and wakes them both up with a slap, causing them to spin and get tangled up.

"You two were supposed to be responsible uncles!" Manny scolds them.

"What?" Crash exclaims. "I didn't see Peaches sneak off maybe 15-20 minutes ago."

"Or that she went and dragged Redwood with Louis to the falls", Eddie added before giggling nervously with Crash.

"The falls? Where the delinquents go?" Manny says upsettingly.

"Relax, it's just where the kids hang out", Ellie tries to calm him down.

Unsurprisingly it doesn't work, and instead, Manny makes the thought of it worse. "No, no, it's a gateway hangout. First, it's the falls, then she's piercing her trunk, and the next thing you know she's addicted to berries! This is the reason we didn't allow Redwood to be with the other kids!"

"Manny! You are overreacting. They're not going to be your little girls forever", Ellie tells him.

"I know. That's what worries me". Manny frowns at the thought of both Peaches and Redwood both growing up and not needing him anymore.

Redwood has been a kid for so long that Manny was used to helping take care of her, but now both she and Peaches are getting older and more independent. This almost made him wish the two were back to being kids again.

*Meanwhile, with Peaches & Redwood*

"Whoo!"

Peaches was swinging from one branch to another, seeming like she was having a fun time. Redwood followed her lead but instead was practicing parkour while jumping from tree to tree.

"Come on! Whoo-hoo!" Peaches giggled.

"Whoo!" Redwood was having fun with this as well.

Normally she would hesitate to follow Peaches when it came to sneaking out and breaking a few rules. But after a while, she kinda got into it, and it started to make her feel like she was missing out on some things. Like this is what it felt like to be a real teenager.

"Louis!" Peaches called out, causing both her and Redwood to stop. "Would you get your head out of the ground for once and try to have a little fun?"

Louis, (a molehog and Peaches' best friend), tried catching up to them by digging underground but ended up hitting his head against a tree root. "Ow!" He then came out of the ground, rubbing his head from the pain. "I'm a molehog! My head's supposed to be underground. And my idea of fun isn't risking death so that you can meet some cute mammoth."

"I'm with Louis on this", Redwood nods. "I mean, I like sneaking around with you guys. But if it's all just for you to see some guy, then I might as well just stood home to avoid the trouble".

"You know that's not true, Red", Peaches smirks. "And Ethan isn't cute. He's hot!"

That statement made both Redwood and Louis roll their eyes. Peaches then came down from the tree before speaking again. "Besides, you can't spend your whole life playing it safe."

 "I know I would!"

Manny appeared out of nowhere in front of the trio, which startled them and made them freeze in their tracks.

"Dad?!" Peaches gasped. "There's no reason to be mad".

"Manny, let me explain..." Redwood wasn't allowed to finish.

"You know how I feel about you both going to the falls. Especially alone", Manny tells the girls.

Louis clears his throat. "They're, uh, not alone, sir."

"You don't count, Weiner", Manny responds rudely.

"Yes, there's my place. And you just put me in it, thank you." Louis looks down dejectedly.

"Manny, come on! Don't be rude to him. He's our friend. This is on us", Redwood says, feeling bad for Louis.

"Redwood, you were never like this. Why sneak out and do this now?" Manny asks her.

The human looks at Peaches, not wanting to say she put her up to this. So instead, she looked back at Manny and told a half-truth. "You never let me be with people my age. Peaches and Louis are the only ones I can let loose with".

"That's because most kids your age are bad influences!" Manny explains. "Come on, young ladies. We're going home where I can keep an eye on you two". He moves them along and heads back home.

Both Peaches and Redwood give Louis apologetic expressions before following Manny. Though, Louis is unsure of what to do afterwards.

"So, s-should I just, um, wait here, or...?" He asks.

Suddenly, the rumbling noise from before happens again, slightly louder this time. Louis hears it and, out of fear, tunnels back underground.

*With Diego*

Deigo leaps from stone to stone and eventually stops near the edge of a cliff. As he looks at the view, he notices the loud rumbling noise as well. Not taking it too seriously however, he tries to be louder than it and roars fiercely into the distance, making it echo from where he stood.

"Yeah, you don't scare me, Mother Nature! There's nothing you can throw at me that I can't handle", He says smugly.

Though he spoke too soon about that. He hears voices near him and by the time he looks into the direction they came from, he's hit by a log filled with sloths. Diego is startled by the impact and clings to the front of the log without the sloths knowing.

"I think we're almost there!" A female sloth said.

"We had better be! I just lost the steering", a male sloth spoke, seemingly trying to look like he was driving.

The log was sliding down the snow at an alarming speed and Diego still didn't move from his spot.

"Has anyone seen Precious? It's her feeding time", an older sloth that was tied to the log said.

"Mom! Granny's talking about her dead pet again", another one whined.

"Hey, paws up, everybody!" One unwashed-looking sloth cheered. He threw his paws in the air and everyone groaned from the smell coming from him.

"Paws down, Uncle, please! That is nasty!" The whiney sloth said.

They continued sliding faster and hit a few speed bumps on the way. One of which was bigger than the previous ones.

"Be careful, Milton, you're going to hurt somebody!" The female sloth scolded. Just then, Diego finally decided to climb up, freaking out all the sloths and making the female one slap him. "Aah! Bad kitty!"

The whiney sloth stopped her arm and moved it out of the way when he noticed another obstacle in their path. "Rock!" He shouted.

It was already too late and they ended up bumping into it. It wasn't enough to stop the log, but it was enough to move Diego away from the front and toss him to the older sloth, who got him tangled with her in the ropes that were still tied to the log upon impact.

The situation was getting worse when the ropes just kept pulling Diego along with them and almost made him fall off another cliff in the process. This was turning out to not be his day so far.

*Back with Manny, Peaches, & Redwood*

"Okay, so tell me, when exactly will I be allowed to hang out with boys?" Peaches asked Manny, still feeling upset about going back home.

"When I'm dead, plus three days. Just to make sure I'm dead", Manny replied.

"Heh, sorry Peaches. Thems the rules", Redwood smirked.

"Well, what about Red? She doesn't get scolded for that?" Peaches complained.

It was always when it came to boys that she and Redwood never shared the blame. For sneaking around? Yes. But for boys? Peaches was on her own for that.

"Last I checked, she's the only human around here. If there were other humans, then there would be a problem", Manny said.

Peaches rolled her eyes and Redwood chuckled at this. However, nobody seemed to notice the log filled with sloths coming toward them in the distance.

Meanwhile, Diego made his way back onto the log just in time to see that they were about to hit Peaches and Redwood. Thinking fast, he leaped to a nearby tree and clung to it, trying to stop the log with the rope still attached to it and him.

Redwood and Peaches finally see the log heading toward them and quickly brace for impact, only to have the log stop abruptly before it can hit them, thanks to Diego.

Though the sudden stop launched the sloths out of the log and they all landed on Manny.

Ellie comes over after hearing the commotion and turns to Manny in concern. "Manny, are you okay?"

Manny groans and the sloths fall off of him, aside from the unwashed one that was stuck to his face. "Get off... my face!" He rips him off and drops him on the ground.

Diego, who recovered from the whole thing and was now very angry about it, then walked up to the unwashed sloth, making him scream in fear. "That was fun. Now, who should I eat first?" He says while cutting the ropes off himself.

The unwashed sloth tried scurrying away but was easily trapped with nowhere to go. "No, no, no! Wah, wah, wah!"

"Uncle Fungus!"

Diego stopped his attack when he heard Sid's voice call out. "Could that really be you? Sorry, sorry", Sid pushed passed the crowd to see what was going on. Upon seeing who the sloths were, he gasped in surprise before running up to them happily. "Mom, Dad! Marshall!"

"Hey!"

"Granny?"

"This pumpkin's ripe for picking!" The older sloth, who was apparently Sid's granny, was poking something that turned out to be a beaver.

"Oh, my whole familia", Sid said while hugging his family.

"See? He still hugs his parents", Manny said to Peaches, who began sneaking away once he wasn't looking.

She tried tugging Redwood to come along with her, but the human waved it off before whispering. "Just go, I'll be there in a minute".

Peaches sighed before moving on. Redwood shook her head and paid attention to Sid's family reunion, finding it to be nice... except for a few small parts she was hearing.

"I never thought I'd see my little baby again. We've been searching everywhere for you." Sid's mother told him.

"You have? I knew it, I knew it! Deep down, I knew I wasn't abandoned!" Sid cheered.

"Oh, that's incorrect. We totally abandoned you", Marshall confirmed.

Sid's mother then pushed him away as soon as he said that. "But we always missed you. Right?" She slapped her husband before saying the last part.

"Oh! Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we just knew Sid would want to see his... poor, dear Granny before... her time is up", Sid's father said, pretending to be sad.

"I'll bury you all and dance on your graves", Granny told them.

"So frail", Sid's father commented.

"And she can't wait to spend time with you, Sid", His mother added.

"Oh, yeah, Granny? Granny?" They looked around when she went missing, only to find her shining a burning light on Marshall's head while he was doing the same to an anthill.

Granny laughs once he notices before getting pulled back to meet Sid. "I never get to have any fun", she grumbled.

"Why don't you show her your cave? Yeah, she could use a nap." Sid's father told him.

Sid happily agreed to it and took Granny away to talk to her. "Boy, there's so much to tell you. You know, a lot has happened since the last time I saw you."

"Not interested", she says with no hesitation.

"But we fought dinosaurs in the Ice Age. It didn't make sense but it sure was exciting", he explains.

As soon as he and Granny were out of view, Sid's family cheered before quickly boarding the log again. "We got rid of the crazy bat! Let's go!"

The rest of the herd, (who had been watching the whole thing), were all shocked by the quick turn, with Manny trying to stop them from leaving. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! You can't just leave. Sid will be crushed"

"Yeah! What kind of family are you?! You can't just abandon Sid like that!" Redwood joins in, feeling more angry about this. "At least tell him you're leaving!"

"Sorry, kid. Things are breaking apart back home", Sid's mother says.

"So, we're headed inland. And Granny is just dead weight", Sid's father adds.

"See ya". They proceed to keep going until they start sliding away again on the log.

"And warn the community. She tends to wander!" Sid's father warned before being completely out of earshot.

They were now completely gone and the herd was left stunned by what happened. Redwood in particular was upset that Sid's family just up and left like that. Now, she understood why Sid wanted a family so badly before, and it was honestly sad.

"Well, that explains a lot about Sid", Diego commented.

"If they come back, I'm gonna kill them", Redwood added.

Just then, Sid came back with Granny, looking for his parents. "Mom, Dad, do you have Granny's teeth? She can't find them."

Granny was struggling to eat an apple with no teeth and eventually tried to get Sid to help. "Hey! Can you chew this thing for me?"

Sid backed up at the fact that it was covered in saliva and kept looking around. "Guys? Where is everyone?"

Manny, Diego, and Redwood shared looks on how they were gonna explain this to him. Diego then decided he should do it.

"I'll handle this", He turns to Sid to explain but already didn't want to hit him with the harsh truth. "Sid?... Uh... Your family was wiped out by an asteroid. Sorry". He told a quick lie.

"What?" Sid responded, freaking out.

Redwood shook her head. "An asteroid? Really? If you're gonna tell a lie, at least be a little more realistic!" She told Diego.

Manny slightly nudges the two away and actually tells the truth. "Ahem! What Diego is trying to say is... they left. They only wanted to find you so you could take care of Granny."

"Oh, come on! Come on. I mean, what kind of sick family would ditch their whole Granny on someone? That's just crazy. That's just... that's just... my family". Sid sadly frowned, already accepting the reality of what he said.

Redwood places her hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "Hey, who needs them? You still have us at least. We're your family now, and we actually care about you".

"Plus you still have Granny. Right, buddy?" Diego joined.

Sid smiled at his friends cheering him up. "Yeah, Granny". He turns to Granny, only to find that she was missing again. "Granny? Granny!"

"Wow. For an old girl, she moves fast", Ellie commented.

Chapter Text

A few moments pass and the herd (specifically Manny, Sid, Diego, and Redwood) set off to look for Granny. Though so far, they weren't having any luck in finding her.

"Granny?" Sid called out.

"Granny!" Diego did the same, followed by Manny and Redwood yelling as well.

"Granny!"

"Come out, come out wherever you are!"

"Come on, Granny!"

"Here, Granny, Granny, Granny. I have prunes for you! Just the way you like them!" Sid spoke before spitting up prunes, which were all chewed up and slimy from being in his mouth.

The rest of the group saw this and both Manny and Diego looked away in disgust, meanwhile Redwood gagged and almost threw up.

"I don't want to see that", Manny said before noticing something while he looked away. "Huh?" He saw Peaches and Louis heading to the falls and started to get upset at the fact that Peaches snuck off again.

Redwood recovered from gagging and saw Manny's expression before turning to see what he was looking at. "Oh no", she mumbled to herself.

"'Oh no' is right", Manny said.

Before he could do anything brash, Redwood stood in front of him. "H-hey! Hold up! There's a better way to do this, you know. How about you guys continue looking for Sid's Granny and I'll handle Peaches?" She suggested.

"Give me a reason why I should let you. If anything, you'll sneak off with her too!" Manny told her.

"But I won't!" Redwood denied. "Look, if she doesn't listen to me, I'll at least try to keep her out of trouble. No danger, no risk, no boys. Just supervision by me. I promise".

Manny looked between the falls and Redwood while thinking it over. It's not that he didn't trust Redwood, he just didn't want Peaches to convince her to join in on the recklessness like she normally would. But then again, Redwood wasn't always tempted to do 'teenager' things as much as Peaches. She was more well-behaved and understood better. (Mainly because she's never been around the other kids to be influenced by these things but he didn't think too much about that).

Manny then sighed and allowed it. "Alright, fine. But I'm sending back-up just in case you forget your job".

Redwood nodded and ran over to follow Peaches and Louis. Meanwhile Diego, (who was standing there the whole time), looked at Manny in confusion.

"What makes you think you can't trust her?" The saber asked.

"If you haven't noticed, she's getting dragged into things she's not supposed to do. Like sneaking out without us knowing", Manny told him. "She promised us before that she would be more careful and I was right to doubt her on that".

"But is she really doing anything terrible? Or are you just overreacting?" Diego questioned. "I know you want the girls out of trouble, and I understand why, but you can trust Redwood at least. I know I do".

Manny scoffs. "Well trust me. If you knew how it was being protective of your own kid, you'd be saying something different right now".

"Who says Redwood isn't my kid? I want her safe too, but I still trust her enough on her own".

"Okay, tiger. Let's see how long that lasts..... And by the way, she's my kid too, you know. We all raised her".

Diego rolled his eyes at Manny's response and the two continued their search of finding Granny.

*Meanwhile*

"Hey, guys!"

Redwood finally caught up to Peaches and Louis, who were surprised to see her.

"I thought you'd never show up", Peaches told her. "Did dad see you?"

"Oh, he knows I'm here... as a chaperone", The human smirked. The two girls hi-fived, meanwhile Louis looked more concerned.

"Wait, so you're here to watch over us?" He asked.

"Just to make sure nothing goes too crazy", Redwood explained. "It can't be that bad, right?"

"But you've never even been to the falls! You don't know how crazy it could get. What if something does go wrong? And what if your dads find out? I'm not as tough as I look!" Louis panicked a bit.

"Yeah, sherlock, no sh--"

"Shh!" Peaches held her trunk up and cut Redwood off. "Wait, do you hear that?"

She ran ahead to follow some music that she suddenly started to hear and her friends followed her as well. They shortly ended up near a ledge that gave a good view of the falls from high up.

The trio looked down over the ledge at their destination, which was actually a medium-sized area mostly surrounded by steep high walls of ice and snow. It was also right next to a small patch of steaming tar geysers, though they didn't seem too dangerous to be around.

In the falls was a bunch of (teenage) animals, all hanging out and having a good time. The place did seem kinda fun for the most part, but what really caught the group's attention was one person in particular.

Someone on the lower ledges tossed what looked like a ball to a group of other teenage mammoths. Only one of them managed to catch it, and that one turned out to be Peaches' crush, Ethan.

(Also it turned out the 'ball' was actually a Glyptodon that Ethan tossed away like it was nothing).

"Hey, look, there's Ethan", Peaches said with a smile on her face.

Other female mammoths, (presumably Ethan's friends), then crowded around him and began praising him, to which he soaked up the attention. Seeing this made Redwood shake her head in disapproval. This guy is the one Peaches likes? It felt like Buck and Avery all over again, only this time it was easier to tell that the guy wasn't good enough.

Just then everyone's attention was turned to where the trio was. Peaches, Louis and Redwood ducked so they wouldn't be seen, but then quickly realized everyone was actually looking at a deer near them. The deer then proceeded to jump from where he was and slide down the steep wall toward the falls, all the while cheering and having fun.

The trio went back to watching and Peaches looked at her friends with a calm demeanor. "See? Fun. No danger." She pointed out about the falls.

"No danger yet!" Redwood said.

"Check me out!" The deer shouted as he reached the bottom of the slide, which was curved up to where it made him go into the air. He used it as an opportunity to do the cool pose mid-air and everyone cheered... until one of the geysers went off and hit the deer, causing him to fall painfully on the ground next to the crowd.

"Told ya", Redwood gave an unimpressed expression.

"I'm sure he's fine", Peaches nervously smiled.

"I'm completely not fine!" The deer yelled, making her smile worse.

"Aw, you did not just do that! That was crazy!" Ethan fist-bumped the deer, to which his antlers disintegrated afterward. "Nice".

Everything from the falls just continued after that and the trio was still watching from afar.

"Isn't he perfect?" Peaches gushed about Ethan.

Louis on the other hand wasn't too thrilled about him. "Perfect. Yeah, it's such a strong word. Maybe adequate."

"I kind of agree". Redwood spoke. "This is maybe because I'm human, but even if I was a mammoth, I really don't see the appeal. Honestly, you can do better, Peaches".

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Crash and Eddie popped out of the bushes, surprising the others.

"Who are we stalking?" Eddie asked.

"Is it Ethan? I bet it's Ethan." Crash replied before he and Eddie noticed Louis next to them

"Oh hey, Weiner."

"What are you guys doing here?" Peaches asked the possums.

Eddie answered first. "Manny told us to keep an eye on you and to make sure Redwood does her job right."

"But not to let you two see us", Crash added.

"Under any circumstances", Eddie finished.

Not even 3 seconds have passed and they both already realized they screwed up their one job. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!!!" They start slapping each other and make it worse when they're fighting distracts them and forces them to leave the trio alone again.

Once they were gone, Peaches took this as an opportunity to prepare herself to go to the falls and talk to Ethan. "Okay, I'm going for it. Do I look okay?"

Redwood looked conflicted about this. "I don't know if you should do this. I promised Manny I'd supervise you and I don't wanna..."

"Please, Red", Peaches begged her. "I promise you won't get in trouble with my dad. He doesn't need to know about this. Please".

Redwood didn't respond. She wants to support her sister (despite how she already doesn't like Ethan), but at the same time, the last thing she needs is to get in trouble with Manny and have bigger drama happen.

She looked back at Peaches, who was giving her a pleading look. Telling her 'no' was either gonna get her mad at the human or just make her do what she wants anyways, but something worse would happen. Thinking about it a few times over, Redwood eventually decided to allow her to go.

"Ugh! Fine. But Manny can't know about this. So keep it on the down-low, please".

Peaches' face lit up. "Thanks, Red! You won't regret this..... Buuut you still didn't answer my question. Do I look okay?"

"Come on. You look great. Louis agrees with me on this too. Right, buddy?"

The girls turn to Louis, who seemed to be staring at Peaches with a dreamily dazed expression, complete with soft eyes and a warm smile. He didn't really say anything for a second, making Redwood call his name again. "Louis?"

He finally responded, not taking his eyes off Peaches. "'Great' doesn't even begin to cover it."

Peaches was flattered by what he said, though oblivious to why he said it. "Aw, Louis. You're the greatest friend ever! And Red, you're the best sister ever!" She patted Louis' head with her trunk before leaving to see Ethan.

Louis' soft expression dropped once he heard the word 'friend' and he sighed disappointedly after Peaches left. "...That's me."

Redwood saw how his mood changed, and after thinking it over and remembering a few things that this moment reminded her about, she quickly pieced together why that was. A smirk then grew on her face and she crossed her arms as Louis turned to look at her.

"What?" He asked. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I saw that look. And I know it all too well", Redwood said.

Louis grew nervous. "W-what look?"

"You know what? I'm not gonna beat around the bush. You like Peaches! And I mean as more than a friend! There's no denying it!" Redwood grinned.

"W-what?! Where did you get that from?"

"Don't play dumb. I saw your face. Aside from it being adorable, it also kinda gave you away. Besides, I've been around Peaches' parents when they fell in love, plus an old friend of mine went through a similar situation. So I know a lovestruck look when I see one", She said with certainty in her voice.

Louis froze for a minute and began stuttering a lot while trying to come up with a stupid excuse. It was funny and cute seeing him try, but he already knew he couldn't dig his way out of this.

So after giving up during at least 5 attempts to come up with a cover story, he admitted defeat and his nervous face said it all. "Just... don't say anything to her. Please?" He pleaded to Redwood.

"I make no promises", she chuckled before pretending to zip her mouth shut. "But maybe just this once. For your sake".

Louis sighs in relief. "Thanks... But just to clarify... you don't find this weird? Me and her".

"..." Redwood didn't respond for a second. "Well... realistically speaking, I have some doubts about this happening... you know, species and everything. But that doesn't mean I don't support it. You're a great guy and I think you two would be cute together... But on the flip side that this doesn't work out, just know you'll at least still have a friend in us".

Despite a part of him agreeing with her about this not working out (mainly due to him and Peaches being different species), Louis appreciated the support Redwood was giving him. Plus the reassurance that they would remain friends gave him some form of comfort.

"Thanks, Red... Wait, am I allowed to call you that?" He asked. He's never really called her Red before due to thinking she only allows her family to call her that.

"Of course. Louis, you're my buddy and my bestie. Who says you can't use my nickname?" She told him before kneeling down to his level. "Listen, you can't be scared and timid about everything all the time. I should know because I used to be like that. You gotta be brave, be more confident. I know you can be. And who knows? Me being brave has saved my family from certain death, maybe you'll be able to do something similar".

"You put way too much faith in me", Louis remarked.

"Someone's gotta give you a confidence boost. You need it", Redwood gently ruffled his head. He tried looking slightly annoyed about it, but his grateful smile said otherwise. Plus he did feel a tiny bit more confident after that.

Seriously, how did he manage to get friends like Redwood and Peaches?

*Meanwhile, with Peaches*

The teenage mammoth made her way down to the falls, all the while poorly practicing how to talk to Ethan. "Hi, Ethan, my name's Peaches. What's yours?" She realized what she said and got frustrated with herself. "What am I doing?! Okay, just be cool, just be..."

Peaches, who wasn't paying attention to the path, suddenly slips on an icy log in front of her and starts to slide around on the steep wall. "Whoa! No! Whoa!"

This gets the attention of the other teenagers, including Ethan. "That's intense!" He says upon seeing Peaches get launched into the air.

Redwood sees this as well from the ledge and freaks out. "Ooooh! Manny's gonna kill me!" She runs off and takes a different path to the falls, leaving Louis by himself.

Meanwhile, Peaches screams as gravity brings her back down on the slide and causes her to go backwards this time. "Ow. Ow. This hurts so much! Ow!" She finally faces forward only to that she was heading towards the tar geysers. She gasps in fear at this. "No! No! No! No! Nooooo!"

She gets launched from the slide yet again but thankfully she misses all the geysers. Unfortunately, her luck didn't last too long as Peaches crashed into Ethan and had him break her fall.

Once that disaster was over, everyone took a better look at Peaches and realized who she really was.

"Gross! It's that weirdo who chills with possums!", One of Ethan's friends mentioned, causing everybody else to recoil in disgust.

"Isn't she also sisters with that strange human?" Someone else added, making the disgusted expressions worse.

"What just happened?" Ethan was in a dazed state as he got up with Peaches.

"Oh, no! Ethan, I am so sorry. I..." Peaches stopped mid-way through her apology to admire him for a moment. "Wow, you're even better looking up close. Phenomenal. I mean--!"

Ethan tries getting a better look but due to his dazed state giving him blurry vision, he instead saw 2 of her. "You have a twin sister?"

Once his vision cleared up properly, it turned out the 'twin sister' was actually Manny.

"Am I interrupting something?" He said, sounding very angry about the whole thing.

"Dad!" Peaches freaked out upon seeing him and she and Ethan struggled to move away from each other due to their tusks being stuck together from the crash.

After a few attempts, Manny grabbed Ethan and pushed him away from Peaches. "You! Keep away from my daughter."

"Wait!" Redwood makes it to the bottom but sees she's too late. "Manny, listen, I can explain everything! You see, it was all just--!"

"You told me you would keep her out of trouble and now look what happened! You promised to be more careful and you broke it!" Manny scolded her.

"I'm sorry, okay? I only--".

"No! I trusted you to have things under control! Now I'm wondering if I should trust you at all!" He told her before turning to Peaches next. "And you, you're grounded!"

"But I didn't do--" Peaches wasn't allowed to finish.

"Grounded!"

There was a minute of silence before Peaches turned to the other teenagers that were watching them. She even heard some of them mumbling comments to each other.

"Loser alert".

"Ouch, that's their dad".

"Seriously, that's embarrassing".

"What a freak".

Feeling terribly embarrassed, Peaches runs off from the falls. Manny and Redwood ran after her with Manny now trying to be reasonable.

"Peaches! Peaches, come on. Let's talk about this!"

"How could you embarrass me in front of my friends?" She exclaimed angrily, which started to lead to an argument.

"You deliberately went where you weren't supposed to!"

"Ugh! You can't control my life!"

"I'm trying to protect you! That's what fathers do!"

"Well... I wish you weren't my father", Peaches stated.

Hearing that one sentence made Manny's eyes widen in shock and heartbreak. He then looks to Redwood for some help, but she stays quiet and walks away just as the others came in.

Sid and Diego saw her expression and tried to comfort her. They expected her to shrug off their help but she actually accepted it, which was nice to know since that meant she either wasn't too upset or preferred the support rather than coping alone.

Ellie walked in as well, but seeing how Redwood was being handled, she decided to do the same for Peaches and Manny. "She's just upset, honey", She tells Manny before turning to her daughter. "Peaches! It's not the end of the world."

Just as she said that, the loud rumbling from before happened once again, only this time everyone noticed it and it felt more like an earthquake.

"Whoa. Excuse me", Sid said to the others.

"I don't think that was you", Diego told him.

"At this point, is it ever him anymore?" Redwood asked.

A large crack then suddenly appears in the ground between the herd, with Manny, Sid, Diego, and Redwood on one side and Peaches and Ellie on the other.

"What was that?" Ellie questioned.

"I don't know. Stay there. I'll come to you". Manny made his way towards Ellie, trying to be cautious about the crack. But before he could reach her, the crack got worse and caused Manny's side to forcibly separate from Ellie's.

Seeing this happen, Manny and Ellie's first instinct was to lock trunks and keep each other from moving away any further. (Meanwhile, Sid's first instinct was to cling onto Diego and Redwood out of fear).

Sadly, Manny and Ellie's strategy was only temporary as the crack split more apart and forced them to let go of each other.

"Ellie!"

"Manny! No!"

Peaches saw what was going on and ran next to Ellie. "Dad! Redwood!"

"Peaches, get back!" Manny shouted. The ground on his side roughly shifted upwards and caused him to slide back. He then tried to run and get back to Ellie and Peaches' side, which was getting farther and farther by the second.

"Hurry, Dad! Hurry!" Peaches yelled.

Unfortunately, Manny didn't make it on account of Diego knocking him over before he can even jump over the crack, which at this point turned into an enormous gap between them and the others.

"Diego!" Manny fumed over his actions.

"You never would have made it!" Diego explained to him.

Manny tried standing up again, only for small pieces of the platform to fall into the gap, which was so deep that the ocean could be seen at the bottom. Not only that, the entire area on Manny's side started to completely fall apart and things were only getting worse from there.

"Ellie, behind you!" Manny called out, spotting a giant wall that started to form on Ellie and Peaches' side. And scaringly enough, it didn't stop moving.

"What's happening?" Peaches freaked out.

Looking around for a solution, Redwood turned to her side and noticed an ice bridge in the distance. "Guys! Look! There's a bridge over there!" She pointed. "Would that help?!"

"That's the land bridge!" Diego exclaimed as he saw what she meant.

This gave the human an idea on how to help the others survive this. "Ellie! Peaches! Round everyone up and get to the land bridge!"

"Redwood's right! You'll be safe on the other side!" Manny added.

"No, Manny! No!" Ellie reached out to them, not feeling so sure about this plan.

"We'll meet you there!" Manny told her just as the platform shifted upwards again.

This time, Diego, Redwood, and Sid lost their balance and the 3 of them were tossed backwards. Diego used his claws to not completely slide off the platform and Redwood did the same by shoving her spear into the ground and tightly gripping onto it.

Sid on the other hand had to grab onto a tree to avoid going any further. But grabbing it gave him a terrible view and made him realize that they were about to fall right into the ocean.

"Manny! No!" Ellie cried out again.

"Ellie, you have to get out of here! Go! Go now!" Manny told her.

His platform eventually reached the ocean, bringing him, Diego, Sid, and Redwood along with it. They all thankfully survived however, and are brought back to the surface, but that was only to see the final large pieces of the platform land into the water. The force of how they landed caused Manny's platform to be pushed away deeper into the ocean, completely separating the herd from the others.

Peaches and Ellie watch on as Manny, Sid, Diego, and Redwood floated away into the water, with Peaches tearing up and yelling her loved ones' names. "Daddy! Redwood!"

Hearing her voice, Manny shouted back to his family. "Stay alive! No matter how long it takes, I will find you!"

This didn't cheer Peaches up however and she started to full-on cry about what happened. "Mom, this is all my fault. If I had just listened..."

"Peaches! This is not your fault, okay?" Ellie tells her daughter.

"What if I never see them again? And the last thing me and dad did was fight! And how I got Redwood in trouble!"

"Hey, your father is the toughest most stubborn mammoth I've ever met. And your sister has faced deadly challenges just to protect this herd. They'll come back for us. That's a promise". Ellie pulled Peaches in for a hug to comfort her.

She doesn't know how, she doesn't know when, but she was certain that the herd, and especially Manny, would find their way back to them.

*Meanwhile*

Manny, Sid, Diego, and Redwood were continuing to drift away from the land. In a desperate attempt to get back, Manny yanked a large piece of wood out of the platform and tried using it as a paddle.

"Come on! Help me turn this thing around!"

Diego tried helping by using his paws to paddle with him. Redwood joined in and used her spear, and Sid used a twig (which really didn't help especially since it looked like he wasn't putting in any effort).

Chapter Text

On Ellie and Peaches' side (B-Team), all of the other animals were starting to run around and panic as they took notice of the giant wall and how it was moving towards them, knocking down and destroying most things that got in its way.

"Everyone, please! Settle down! Don't panic!" Ellie tried to calm everyone down, but no one paid her any attention.

Peaches looks around and realizes that they were missing someone. "Wait, Mom, where's Louis? We have to find him."

Ellie looked at the wall to see if they had the time to do so. Being how the wall was still at a slow pace, they only had a few minutes. "Okay, fast."

*At Sea, with the A-Team*

Manny, Sid, Diego, and Redwood were still paddling, but their efforts made no difference as they just kept drifting farther into the ocean.

"They need me! We got to get back." Manny spoke with worry.

"Manny, we're trying! But as you can see, we're making no progress!" Redwood exclaimed.

"She's right. Buddy, this thing's too big to turn. The current's pulling us out", Diego added.

"You know, my mother once told me that bad news was just good news in disguise", Sid said, trying to ease the stressfulness of the situation.

"Was this before she abandoned you?" Diego asked him.

"Yes, it was", Sid nodded with an unamused smile before bouncing back with something positive. "But the point being that even though things look bad, there's a rainbow around every corner".

Redwood gave a half smile and shook her head at Sid's words, appreciating him lightening the mood. But her smile quickly faded when she heard thunder rumbling in the distance, and it started to get louder.

Sid must've heard it too, as he started yelling over the thunder so the others could hear him. "And nothing but smooth sailing ahead!!!"

A strong gust of wind then hits the group and they looked behind them to see that they were drifting right for a huge storm.

"Smooth sailing, Sid?" Manny spoke, knowing the irony of that moment.

*Back with the B-Team*

Ellie and Peaches were running around the area, calling out for Louis and trying to find him before the wall got too close. Crash and Eddie helped with the search as well, (though they mostly called out 'Weiner' instead of his real name).

Eventually, Peaches split up from the group and ended up back at the falls, where she continued to look for her friend. "Louis, where are you? Come on, we have to go!"

She looks up at the higher ledges and sees Louis at the top of the falls. He was trying to escape the moving wall by climbing down the ledges.

"Louis?" Peaches called out to him.

"Peaches!" Louis spotted her but froze when he saw he had nowhere else to run to. The only option was for him to slide down one of the ice slides, but he was too scared to even move.

"Louis, you have to jump", Peaches told him.

He still refused to move, however. "No! Go, save yourselves!"

"We're not leaving without you."

"Oh, thank goodness."

"Jump!"

Louis knew he had no choice, so he took a leap of faith (literally) and began sliding down the ice slide as the moving wall came his way and created an avalanche of snow that approached him.

"This is why I travel underground!" He screamed as he reached the bottom, with Peaches being able to catch him with her trunk before running out of the falls.

Louis looked up at her, smiling as his fear was replaced with relief and gratefulness. "Thanks for coming back."

"What do you mean? You don't leave a friend behind", Peaches responded.

'There was that word again'.

"Is Redwood okay too?" Louis asked.

Peaches didn't answer him and instead kept running with an upset face, which made him nervous about what could've happened to their friend.

They both shortly make it back to Ellie, who finally managed to calm all of the other animals down and was prepared to go once she saw Peaches and Louis return.

"Great, let's go. That wall is going to keep moving and crush us. We need to get to the land bridge. Any questions?" Ellie asks the other animals.

"Ooh! Ooh!" A baby bird raised its wing.

"Yes?"

"When you drink water through your trunk, does it taste like boogers?"

Ellie answered best she could before moving on. "No... Well, sometimes. Let's move!"

Everyone listened and started following her. The entire village's journey to the landbridge was now beginning. But one can only hope that they'll make it soon before the moving wall reaches them.

*Meanwhile, with the A-Team*

Lighting struck and thunder rumbled loudly as the herd's little iceberg roughly rocked them side to side against the harsh waves being created by the storm.

"Just keep your eye on the horizon!" Manny shouted to the others while keeping his balance.

"I can't find the horizon!" Diego shouted back.

The iceberg they were on then got flipped over by the waves, sending them underwater again. When it was set right side up, a giant crab was now standing near them, causing the group to freak out.

"Holy crab!" Sid exclaimed.

The giant crab turns around and growls before it goes ahead and attacks Sid first. Sid tries to dodge it and run away, but due to the lack of room on the iceberg, he already ended up at a dead end.

"Leave him alone!" Redwood yelled as she ran in front of Sid protectively with her spear out.

The giant crab then froze in its tracks, not because of Redwood, but because of where the iceberg was leading them next. Sid and Redwood looked behind them to see that they were floating towards an enormous wave that pretty much was more of a wall of water.

Sid screamed at this and clung onto the giant crab's leg. "Hold me!"

Redwood lost her balance due to fear and she slid backwards into Manny, who she also clung onto.

"If I don't make it, find me a wife, and tell her I love her!" Sid exclaimed.

Everyone, including the crab, screamed as they braced themselves for the incoming impact of the enormous wave. But as it turned out, the herd went directly through the wave and landed rockily on the other side, with seemingly no one being harmed in the process.

Sid opened his eyes and smile at their luck. "We made it! Come on, ocean, is that the best you can do? Am I right, buddy?" He turns to look at the crab, only to see that it was gone, and its severed leg was the only thing that remained on the iceberg.

Sid screamed at the sight, but then screamed louder when he looked up and saw that their next obstacle was a tornado (that took the leg away) and began making the iceberg rise off the water and higher into the sky.

The herd eventually stopped at the very top of the tornado, which was above the clouds. They hovered there for a moment and Sid took notice of the fact that it was sunny and there was even a rainbow.

"Hey, there really is a rainbow around every corner!" Sid spoke happily.

Manny, Diego, and Redwood just looked on dumbfounded at this right before they all suddenly dropped from the sky and plummeted back down into the ocean.

*Sometime Later, with the B-Team*

Everybody continued heading for the landbridge as the wall kept moving at its slow pace. Meanwhile, Peaches was walking on a different path, away from the others.

She sighs depressingly, thinking about Manny and Redwood. She misses them and she just wants them to be okay. She believed it when she was told that they would all meet up soon, but who knows what kind of dangers were in the ocean?

What if they take longer than expected? What if they never come back? What if--

"Peaches!"

The teen mammoth stops when Louis screams her name and prevents her from walking any further. And it was for good reason, as a small avalanche of trees, rocks, and bits of land was sliding down the path in front of them and ended up falling into the ocean.

Once it was over, Louis turned to Peaches in concern. "You okay?"

"I'm just so worried about my dad and Redwood", She answered sadly.

"Listen, we're going to get to them. At this pace, we'll stay ahead of the wall and we'll make it to the land bridge before you know it". Louis speaks to her comfortingly and manages to cheer her up ever so slightly. "We're all going to survive this."

Just as he says that, Crash and Eddie, (who aren't paying attention to their surroundings), are seen walking near the two and end up falling into a ditch that the avalanche had made.

Louis and Peaches look over the ditch to see if the possums were okay. The answer was more of a somewhat yes however.

"Okay, maybe they won't. But everyone else, totally fine." Louis tells Peaches.

*After the Storm, with the A-Team*

Manny, Sid, Diego, and Redwood all groan as they slowly get up from the aftermath of the storm. Nobody was badly hurt, but everyone got soaked from the whole event.

Redwood twists her hair to squeeze out the water from it and Sid does the same with his tail.

Manny looks back at the storm and notices how much farther they are from land. "We're still heading away from home".

Sid, once again, tries to look on the brighter side of things. "Yeah, but we survived and we still have each other. Things could be worse, right?"

Diego agrees with him. "For once, he's actually right. We made it through storms and tidal waves and a vicious assortment of seafood".

Redwood looks up and nods confidently. "You know what? Yeah! Plus we've fought against nature before. As well as other sabers, a flood, and dinosaurs, among other brutal forces. Come on, universe! Is that all you got?!"

Diego chuckles at her enthusiasm. "You're right too, kid. What more can they hit us with?"

A stick suddenly hits Diego on the head.

He looks next to him to see it came from a hole in the tree that was on the iceberg with them. There was even some mumbling coming from it.

"Hello?" Diego tried looking in the hole only to have the same stick poke him in the eye. "Ow! What the...?"

"Dagnabbit, I'm trying to sleep!"

Surprisingly enough, the person inside the hole in the tree was Sid's Granny.

"Granny? You're alive!" Sid said happily.

"And can we say how thrilled we are to see you?" Diego states sarcastically while rubbing his eye.

"Wow. Tell me what were the odds that she was hiding in this exact tree the whole time?" Redwood says in disbelief.

"Hey, fats, you want to get me out of here?" Granny tells Manny, signaling that she was stuck in the tree.

Manny wraps his trunk around her and tries to pull her out.

"Hey, come on. Pretend I'm a dessert that should motivate you", Granny says.

Manny tries again and manages to pull Granny out completely, but then she ends up landing on top of Sid.

"I can't believe this. You slept through that storm?" Manny says, feeling surprised.

"Nah. I slept through the comet that killed the unicorns." Granny speaks with sass before intentionally walking off the iceberg and landing in the water. "Thanks for drawing my bath, Sidney."

Sid isn't too thrilled about this and reaches out to her in worry. "Granny, grab my paw!"

"No way. This is my first bath in decades."

The dirtiness from her fur spreads out around her, causing some dead fish and a shark to come up to the surface.

"There's your proof", Diego says.

"Huh, I guess having no sense of hygiene runs in the family", Redwood comments.

"Quick! Somebody do something!" Sid was still freaking out about this, so Manny decided to grab him and throw him over to Granny.

Sid lands on top of her but then resurfaces and attempts to swim back to the others while holding her. "I got you, Granny."

"Get off of me!" Granny tries to get Sid off of her by pushing him away right before resorting to beating him with her walking stick.

"Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Granny!"

Despite the struggle, Sid is able to get Granny back on the iceberg. However, her reaction to Manny, Diego, and Redwood staring at her was more than uncomfortable for them.

"What are you peeping toms all looking at?" She scolds while covering herself.

The three quickly turn away from her as she continues grumbling. "A lady can't take a bath in peace? Eyeballing me like a rump roast. And teach that kid of yours to show some respect!"

"What's the life expectancy for a female sloth?" Diego asks.

"She'll outlive us all, you know that, right?" Manny says.

"Yeah, you're not wrong. It's the spiteful ones that live the longest", Redwood adds.

Diego smirks at this. "Kind of like Avery. I always thought she would be the one mock us over our graves".

"She would do that, wouldn't she?" Redwood smiles back. "Well... I hope she and Buck are doing better than us right now. And by extension, I hope Louis, Peaches, and Ellie are safe".

Chapter Text

"HOW BIG IS THIS OCEAN?!" Manny screamed.

"Uuuugggghhhh! It's been hours! When are we gonna see some land?" Redwood groaned.

Sid, while on his back, slid closer to the edge near the water. "Water, water, everywhere. Nor any drops to drink... Well, except maybe that drop". He sat up and dunk his head in the ocean to take a drink. Though the taste made his face scrunch up. "Hm, that's a little... salty."

As for Granny, she was walking around their iceberg, calling out for her pet, and Manny had to stop her from falling into the ocean a couple of times.

"Precious! Mommy's calling you. Precious! Come here, sweetie. Hey, lady, have you seen Precious?" She asked Diego.

"If you mean the imaginary, or perhaps deceased pet that you keep searching for, no! I haven't." He said in annoyance.

Redwood shook her head before suddenly hearing a noise. And not just any noise, but a bird noise. She looked up and saw a seagull flying near them. "Hey, guys! Where there's birds, there's land, right?"

The others saw the seagull as well and Diego tried to get its attention. "Hey, buddy, come here!"

Instead of listening, the seagull flew away once it heard him.

"No, wait, wait! Come back! Come back!" Manny called out to it.

Unbeknownst to the herd, as soon as the bird was out of their view, it flew to another area where a mysterious figure was waiting for it. It then landed right next to the figure and reported what it saw to him. "It's a huge bounty, mon capitaine. Five passengers. Ripe for the taking. One very smelly, and one very plump".

"In my ocean? What a terrible turn of events. I love a terrible turn of events", the figure laughed sinisterly.

Back to the herd, Diego looked in the direction the seagull went. It was pretty foggy so he had to squint to get a better look. And what he saw was a giant iceberg heading their way.

"Am I hallucinating or is that ice coming straight towards us?" He asked the others.

"Yeah, yeah, it's coming! It sounds like there's animals on it!" Exclaimed Manny.

"Yippee! We're being rescued! We're being rescued!" Side cheered while dancing.

"I also hear laughter", Redwood added.

"Ooh, must be a party cruise." Sid smiled.

Suddenly, a skull with a rope tied to it was thrown and landed right next to Sid, the teeth digging into the ice. More skulls were then thrown from the giant ice, landing on the group's iceberg and pulling itself closer to it.

Now getting a better look, the ice heading towards them looked more like a huge scary-looking ship, with rats crawling on it and everything. The herd didn't know what to think of this or where this was gonna lead to, but they were desperate, so they might as well see.

Once the ship was close enough, a seal popped up and smiled at the herd. "Hey, they look fluffy."

More animals started appearing and looking down on the herd.

"I get the big wooly one".

From left to right, there was a kangaroo, a badger, a warthog, a seagull, a speedy rabbit, and a female saber.

Diego started staring at the female saber, looking surprised but was quickly broken out of it when Sid clicked his tongue and playfully nudged him.

Just then, someone else joined in and stood next to the female saber, and it turned out to be... another human?

Upon seeing the human, Redwood gave a completely shocked expression. The human was another girl that was probably around Redwood's age (18 years old). She had red braided hair, a scar on the right side of her face, and her clothes looked a bit more stylish and adventurous compared to Redwood's outfit.

"Guys..." Redwood looked at the others for their reactions, which were as shocked as she was.

"We see her too, kid", Manny told her.

"Get ready to slice and dice, boys", the rabbit twirled his weapon wanting to attack the herd.

"Knock it off, Squint. You know the rules", the redheaded human demanded as she pushed the rabbit away.

"Hey!"

"She's right. Wait for Captain's orders." The female saber added.

"Ahoy, down there!"

The herd looks to see the mysterious figure hanging from one of the trees on the ship, swinging around as he speaks to them. "How lucky are you? You know these waters are infested with pirates. Right, boys?"

The animals on the ship "Arr" in response.

"Glad we found you before they did". The figure swung down next to his crew and was revealed to be an ape. "Captain Gutt, here to help."

"You know, that's a nice monkey," Granny commented.

One of the rats on the ship mockingly pretends to be a monkey but gets grabbed and thrown off by Captain Gutt.

"Look, we don't want any trouble. We just need to get back to the continent," Manny says.

"The continent? That pile of rubble?" Captain Gutt asked before he and his crew laughed.

Redwood looks at them skeptically. "Uh, sir, this possibly isn't a good time, but maybe if you can just--".

"Hey, you got a human too? Coral, look! You finally have someone to have a playdate with!" Squint (the rabbit) nudged the redheaded human.

"Shira, does rabbit soup sound nice for lunch? I'm craving for some meat at the moment", she asked the female saber in an upset tone.

"Easy, Coral. Just ignore him", Shira (the female saber) told her.

"They seem nice. Huh, guys?" Sid looked between Diego and Redwood, who just rolled their eyes at him.

Getting back on topic, Manny tries to speak again. "My family's there. So if you could just..."

Captain Gutt interrupts him. "Oh, your family? That is so sweet. I hope you said goodbye because there's no way back."

"Yes, there is". The seal spoke up, "Don't you remember, Captain? You can sail to Switchback Cove and catch the current back from there. It's like a steel trap, this noggin is."

Captain Gutt laughed. "Thank you, Mister Flynn." He then stomps on his flippers, implying he was mad at what he said.

"See? I knew there was a way home!" Manny said.

"There is no home!" Captain Gutt shouted. "There is only here. And here, your ship belongs to me".

The herd share worried looks, not liking his statement whatsoever.

"Battle stations!"

A bunch of logs were pointed at the herd as if they were cannons. The kangaroo tossed the crew their weapons, while Coral pulled out her own sword made out of bones.

"Fly the colors! Now surrender your ship or face my fury." Captain Gutt threatened the group.

"Or face your furry what?" Sid asked.

"Not furry. Fury! Fire!"

A large ball of ice was thrown and landed near the herd as the attack started.

"Hit the mammoth, win a prize." Squint threw his (I guess, daggers?) at Manny, who blocked them with his tusks.

Diego roared before running to cut off the ropes on their iceberg with his teeth.

"Fire the starboard cannons." Ordered Captain Gutt.

Said cannons were being shot at Diego by the kangaroo and warthog, but they all seemingly missed him. So Gutt tried another way to stop him.

"Shira, fetch."

"Aye-aye, Captain."

Diego snaps the ropes apart but Shira got to the last one before him. "You almost made it."

"I don't fight girls." Diego glared at her.

Shira flings the rope at Diego's face before tackling and pinning him down. "I can see why."

"Maybe he doesn't. But I do!" Redwood sees this and runs up to them with her spear drawn out, but she's stopped in her tracks by Coral, who strikes at her a few times with her sword. Redwood quickly engages in a sword fight with her, though Coral blocks her attacks with ease.

Meanwhile, Sid screams while trying to avoid getting crushed by Mr. Flynn (the seal).

"Belly flop!"

Sadly, he doesn't escape and ends up being trapped under the seal's weight.

"Sid!" Redwood is distracted by this long enough for Coral to knock her spear out of her hands and hold her at swordpoint, with the blade close to her neck.

"Redwood!" Manny shouted. He was about to go save her but was stopped by the kangaroo.

"Let's rumba, Tiny".

"Lights out, big fella." Captain Gutt launches another big ice ball at Manny and successfully hits him. He passes out from the impact and gets surrounded by the rest of the crew, with the last thing he hears being Sid and Redwood calling his name as well as Gutt's sinister laughter.

"Manny!"

*Sometime Later*

Manny wakes up to the warthog smelling him. It walks away once it sees he's up just as Mr. Flynn greets him. "Hello".

"Hey, buddy. Welcome to the party", Diego says.

Manny looks up to see Diego tied to a branch high up on the main tree of the ship. He then notices he's tied up as well and struggles to get himself loose.

"Don't bother. I've tried for 20 minutes already", Redwood says. She was sitting on the floor while being tied to a log near the main tree, her face looking mildly annoyed. And Granny was just walking in a circle with her leg tied to a twig.

Meanwhile, the pirate crew was busy messing around and throwing sharp starfish at Scrat, forcing him to dance.

"Let's see what kind of moves you got. Dance, little Scrat fish!" Squint says.

"Happy dance", Mr. Flynn said while eating some fruit.

Sid, (who was tied to a different tree), was the next target and had starfish thrown at him too. Thankfully, he dodged them all.

Redwood didn't like this and continued to struggle to free herself but to no avail. Just then, she saw someone stand in front of her and looked up to see Coral standing over her with a fresh mango in her hand.

"What do you want?" Redwood scowled at her.

Coral looked at the crew to make sure they weren't looking before kneeling down and handing Redwood the mango. "You like mangos? You looked kinda hungry".

She looks at Coral with a surprised and confused look before looking at the mango suspiciously.

"Don't worry. It's fresh and I promised it's not poisoned", Coral reassured her.

Redwood still didn't accept the fruit however. "Sorry, but I don't take offerings from strangers. Especially ones who attack my family and hold them hostage!"

"Your family? As in these things that came with you?" Coral gestured to the others before shrugging and throwing the mango over her shoulder. "Suit yourself". There was a slight pause before Coral tried speaking again. "Hey, about us attacking you; No hard feelings, right? Cause I really didn't wanna do it. Just had to look good in front of the crew, ya know? Anyways, I'm Coral. Captain Gutt's second-best hunter. The first is Shira".

"...I'm Redwood ...But I'm only telling you because you said your name, not because I'm being nice", Redwood said.

Coral just half-smiles. "Duly noted. I get it if your mad. I just wanted to speak to another human. It's been years since I've seen one".

"And you decide the best approach to seeing another one is to attack them and keep them hostage?"

"It wasn't my idea! I would've--".

"Hey, back away from her!" Diego shouted once he saw the two girls together.

"Who's gonna make me, big teeth?" Coral barks back at him.

"Coral! Stop speaking with the prisoners and get over here! It's your turn for target practice!" Raz (the kangaroo) called out while holding a starfish.

Coral sighs before standing back up. "Well, gotta go. If you're not angry with me anymore, let's talk again later". She walks off to the pirates, leaving Redwood still confused and skeptical about her. Why was she trying to be nice?

Though this wasn't the only interaction between the herd and a pirate. Captain Gutt made his way to Manny, also attempting to be nice and greet him. "Morning, sunshine. Let me be the first to extend the hand of friendship".

"...That's your foot", Manny says.

Captain Gutt laughs. "Nothing gets by you, does it?"

"What do you want?"

"I bet you're feeling lost, scared, confused. Allow me to explain. Help me out, boys!"

"Ooh! Captain's going to sing a shanty!" Mr. Flynn said excitedly.

The pirates took out some instruments and started playing music while Captain Gutt began singing.

Captain Gutt: ♫Here you are on a boat♫
♫You're adrift, you're afloat♫
♫One might even say you're stuck♫

♫Well, I don't want to gloat♫
♫But I would like to note♫
♫That you're in luck♫

♫You've been saved by the ape that rules these waters♫
♫So forget about your wives and daughters!♫
♫First Mates introduce me to them, please~♫

Shira: ♫Aye-aye, Captain Gutt♫
♫He's the big and scary♫

Silas & Shira: ♫Elegant yet hairy♫

Squint & Coral: ♫Fear-inspiring♫

Gupta & Coral: ♫Years from retiring♫

Raz & Shira: ♫Looting, stealing♫

Mr. Flynn: ♫Banana peeling♫

All: ♫Undisputed Master of the Seas♫

Redwood: ♫Oh, jeez♫.

Captain Gutt: ♫That's me♫

All: ♫'Tis he♫

Captain Gutt: ♫That's me♫

All: ♫'Tis he♫

Captain Gutt: ♫That's me♫

All: ♫'Tis he♫

Captain Gutt: ♫Okay, okay♫
♫I'm a primate pirate pioneer♫
♫And these are my brave buccaneers♫
♫All of whom were once lost souls like you♫

All: ♫It's true♫

Coral: ♫He rescued us♫

Squint: ♫He saved our butts♫

Shira: ♫For that, we owe our lives to Gutt♫
♫And assuming he doesn't kill you♫

All: ♫You will owe him, too♫

"Kill them? Me? No, no". Captain Gutt examines Manny. "Well, at least not this very large, useful mammoth".

Manny pulls away from him. "Hey, hands off".

"And it wouldn't hurt to have another human", Captain Gutt looks at Redwood, who scowls at him.

"Touch her and you're dead!" Diego threatens.

Gutt ignores the saber and continues. "Anyway..."

Captain Gutt: ♫Here we are on a ship♫
♫Moving at quite a clip♫
♫Through the ever-shifting ice♫

Shira: ♫Come along on a trip♫

Mr. Flynn: ♫That's a hint♫

Squint: ♫That's a tip♫

Silas: ♫That's good advice♫

All: ♫In a world that's going under♫
♫To survive you must learn to plunder♫

Captain Gutt: ♫Luckily that's my field of expertise♫

Coral: ♫He's the best♫

All: ♫He's a robbing, thieving♫

Diego: ♫We really should be leaving♫

Raz: ♫Weapon throwing♫

Manny: ♫We got to get going♫

Squint: ♫Sloth-slaying♫

Sid: ♫Ah, wish we could be staying♫

All: ♫Undisputed, Uncontested♫
♫Monkey suited♫

Captain Gutt: ♫Yeah, you guessed it♫

All: ♫Master of the seas♫

Redwood: ♫Oh, please♫

Captain Gutt: ♫That's me♫

All: ♫'Tis he♫

Captain Gutt: ♫That's me♫

All: ♫'Tis he♫

Captain Gutt: ♫It's who?♫

All: ♫It's you♫

Captain Gutt: ♫Just testing, I knew♫
♫It's me~!♫

"Good shanty, sir", Mr. Flynn commented.

"Yeah, if you enjoy your songs feeling like ignorant toddlers sang them, then I guess you do you", Redwood rolled her eyes.

Coral turned to Shira and whispered. "We don't really sound like that... do we?"

Manny, on the other hand, was more confused when he realized the Captain's name. "Captain Gutt? Really? You know, I have a little paunch too, but uh, I wouldn't name myself after it".

"That's funny. You're a funny guy. But that's not how I got my name". Gutt pulled out his sharp claws and put them near Manny's face. "THESE! Got me my name".

"I don't get it", Sid said in the background.

"No?" Captain Gutt made his way to Sid and only freed the top part of his body. "Okay. Let me give you a visual aid. I just gently press here. And go down like this".

He places his claw on Sid's stomach before trailing down dangerously near his throat.

"And then your inners become your outters". Squint finished for him.

"Um, I still don't get it", Sid responds.

"Basically you're gonna get gutted like a fish. Slice you down the middle and watch as the insides fall out", Coral spoke more specifically.

"Look, as much as I'm tempted to join a monkey... the Easter Bunny... and a giant bag of pudding... I'll pass". Manny says.

"I second that. Stealing and slaying sounds cool and all, and you guys seem like one colorful batch of fun characters. But we have a family waiting for us back home, and no one's going to stop us from getting back to them". Redwood states, with Manny nodding to her.

The pirates didn't seem too happy with their rejection of not being a part of the crew in favor of their family.

"I'm going to lambada with your livers, buddy". Squint jumps to attack Manny first but is grabbed by the ears from Coral and is pulled away. "Let me at him!"

Coral looks at Redwood with a dissatisfied look. "Of course, family comes first! Why wouldn't it?! It's a stupid--!"

"Coral!" Gutt silenced her before moving to darkly whisper in Manny's ear. "That family is going to be the death of you". He then turns to Shira and gives an order. "First mate, jettison the deadweight".

"Aye-aye, sir. Prepare the plank!"

"Prepare the plank!" Squint interrupts her, causing Shira to get annoyed.

"Preparing the plank!" Mr. Flynn prepares the plank as Raz finally cuts Sid loose and carries him near it.

"What? You want me to walk into the water?" Sid asks. "I can't because I just ate less than 20 minutes ago, and you know the rule".

"That's a myth", Raz says.

"Oh okay. As long as it's safe". Sid is thrown onto the plank and freaks out.

"Hey! Stop! Leave him alone!" Redwood struggles to get herself loose again but to no avail.

"Wait!" Captain Gutt yells.

"Oh thank goodness", Sid said in relief.

"Dump the wench, too". Captain Gutt orders. Granny is brought to the plank and he gestures for her to go on it. "Ladies first".

"Such a nice boy. Why can't you be more like him, Sidney?" Granny makes her way to the edge of the plank, oblivious to what was happening.

"Granny, no! Wait!" Sid tried to warn her but was held back by the pirates.

Manny tries to free himself from his restraints until Diego gets his attention. "Manny! Get me to the vine".

"Yeah, yeah, got it". Manny uses his strength to turn the tree he's tied to around so Diego could reach the vine and free themselves.

Meanwhile, Granny looks over the plank and sees a bunch of narwhals in the water. "You all got some ugly goldfish".

Back to the others, Redwood's struggle eventually pays off and she gets ropes on herself loose enough to slip out. As for Manny, he manages to get Diego to the vine and he cuts it with his teeth, which loosens Manny's restraints and frees him.

The pirates hear the commotion and realize their prisoners were escaping. "No!" Captain Gutt springs into action and takes out a sword to attack Manny with.

"Yeah, Extinct that mammoth".

"Don't hold back, captain!"

Squint and Coral cheer for Captain Gutt. Meanwhile Sid and Redwood do the same for Manny.

"Come on, Manny, kick his monkey butt!"

"Show him who's boss!"

Gutt continues to strike at Manny, who is able to block his attacks. "Look at you. Eleven tons of landlubber blubber".

"Hey, I'm not fat! I'm poufy". Manny counters.

"Too bad, Tubby. I could have used you".

"Ain't going to happen, Captain". Manny charges to the tree and knocks it over, also freeing Diego in the process. Sid even manages to catch Granny while Redwood looks for her spear and huddle near the herd.

The impact of the fallen tree was so strong that it was able to slice the ship in half, causing it to start sinking with everyone on it.

"Does anyone have floaties?" Mr. Flynn panics as the pirates fall into the water.

Captain Gutt hangs onto the ship and sees all the fruit he's collected fall into the ocean as well. "No! No! My bounty!" He then looks up at the herd and glares at them with a growl.

The pirate ship fully sinks but the herd survives when one large piece of the ship is brought to the surface, along with them on it. Manny looks back and sees nothing but the wreckage they left behind. With none of the pirates in sight, the herd starts sailing away.

Meanwhile, the pirates themselves turned out to be okay, but they weren't noticed.

Mr. Flynn was panicking while in the water, believing he was gonna drown. "They sunk our battleship! What are we going to do?! We're all going to drown!"

Captain Gutt grabs him by the nose before throwing him back into the water. "You're a sea creature, you idiot".

"Oh, good point, sir".

"Should I fly the white, captain?" Gupta questions before being backhanded by Gutt.

"No!"

"Wait, what about Shira and Coral?" Mr. Flynn asks once he realizes the two girls were missing.

"What about them?" Captain Gutt says, not really caring about them.

"Yeah, what about them?" Squint copies him.

"Anyone else want to play 'Captain'?" Gutt questioned the other frustratingly. Everyone stood quiet, not wanting to anger him even more. "Good. Now come on, blubber-brain. Swim!"

The pirates sail far in the other direction, not noticing Shira come out of the water and struggling to keep herself afloat.

"Hey! Gutt! Flynn! Anyone there?" She calls for help.

The herd finds her first and Manny reaches out to help her. "Here, grab hold".

Sadly, she rejects them. "No, go away! I'd rather drown!"

"Whatever the lady wants", Diego speaks sarcastically.

Despite what Shira said, Manny pulls her out of the water and onto the new iceberg they were on. "I said I didn't need your help!" She complains.

Diego smirks at her. "You're welcome. So, care to join our scurvy crew?"

"Two sloths, a human, a mammoth, and a saber? You guys are like the start of a bad joke", Shira says.

"And we saved you. That makes you the punch line, kitty".

Diego's nickname for Shira caused her to get triggered and aggressively pin him down. "Don't call me kitty".

"Okay, I won't..." Diego pushed her back and pins her down as well. "Kitty".

"If they kiss, I'm going to puke", Granny says while looking over at them.

"Same here", Redwood agrees.

"What? Wait. No". Feeling uncomfortable about their comments, Diego quickly gets off of Shira and walks away.

Just then, the herd hears coughing and turns around to see Coral come out of the water and climb onto their iceberg. Not taking any chances, Redwood pulled out her spear and aimed it at Coral before she looked up.

"...Great", Coral grumbled as Redwood glared at her.

"Try anything funny and I'll stick this right up your--"

Sid tries to intervene. "Hey hey hey! Calm down".

"Why? We already let that pirate on here. I'm not taking another one!" Redwood complained.

"I let you live and even tried being nice to you on our ship. Can't you return the favor?" Coral said upsettingly.

Redwood stared at Coral for a bit and back to the herd. She wasn't gonna be nice to the person who basically kidnapped them, but she'll be generous enough to not do the same. After all, this was the only human she has seen in a while since Roshan, and she wasn't ready to start going through a crisis like Manny did when he thought he was the last mammoth.

She groaned as she put away her spear and allowed Coral to stay. "Don't get any ideas. We outnumber you and the tiger you have".

"First off, her name is Shira. Second, if I had ideas, where would we even go? Goodness knows where Gutt went and how many miles we are from land. And if this is about the kidnapping thing, I said it wasn't my idea." Coral said walking next to Shira.

Ignoring the conversations going on, Manny stared into the distance of the sea, thinking about Ellie and Peaches. They've been gone for so long, he just hoped they were okay.

*Meanwhile, with Ellie and Peaches*

It's been a long while since all the animals in the valley were walking towards the land bridge. Ellie didn't seem too affected, as she was more worried about Manny.

The other animals on the other hand were exhausted. It's been a whole day of them doing nothing but walking and they were already starting to go through the night. However, after seeing Crash & Eddie collapse from all the moving, Ellie decided to have everyone rest, at least for now.

"Maybe we should rest for a few hours", she announces.

Everyone sighs in relief before all dropping the same way Crash & Eddie did. Though some animals that had their families got into more comfortable positions to sleep.

As for Peaches, she hung upside down from a tree but wasn't able to sleep. She has been nothing but depressed all day and it was because she couldn't stop worrying for her dad and sister.

"I miss you, guys". She quietly says while looking into the night sky.

"Well, that's something you don't see every day". Ethan comments as he comes over to her.

Immediately Peaches' mood switches from sad to giddy upon seeing him. "Ethan! Hi!" Afterwards she accidentally falls from the tree but quickly gets back up. "...I meant to do that".

Ethan chuckles. "I've never seen a mammoth sleep like that".

"What? No, this just helps me think. It gets blood to the old noggin and away from the old... whatever", Peaches says, trying to not sound nervous or awkward.

Unbeknownst to her, from the distance, Ellie spots her with Ethan, but unlike Manny, she stays hidden and allows them to talk.

"Okay, that's a little weird". Etan says. A noise from the moving wall is suddenly heard and he and Peaches look back at it in worry. Giving a concerned expression, Ethan turns back to Peaches. "So, how are you doing, you know, with all of this?"

"Honestly, a little scared... Okay, a lot scared. Everything we knew is gone", She answers.

"Yeah, I was pretty scared, too. I mean, not scared. You know like... concerned". He tells her. "Hey, uh, do you want to walk with me tomorrow? Try and get our minds off all this stuff".

"You want to walk with me?" Peaches asks excitedly.

"Well, you did almost flatten me this morning. So, I figure it can't really go worse than that, right?" Ethan jokes. Before he left however, he gave her one condition. "Oh, just one thing. It's totally no big deal, but you might want to lose the molehog".

"Louis?" Peaches questioned. Was he really asking for her to leave Louis? But he was her best friend, why would she? Then again, she did really want to spend time with Ethan though, in a way where she could prove that she was cool like him. Maybe she didn't fully have to leave Louis, just not tell him where she was going. That way she keeps her friendship, and spends time with her crush.

"Yeah, sure, not a problem", she tells Ethan.

"And another thing, which I guess makes this two things, but... that human... she's not coming too is she?" He asked her. "Again, no big deal. But the others feel a bit uneasy about her".

"Oh, Red? Uh, I don't she's gonna come. You know, she doesn't like getting into trouble with dad". She lies. Ethan nods at her before leaving.

Ellie finally comes out of her hiding spot and walks to her daughter. Now she was starting to get a little worried about her and this boy. But she still wasn't gonna be overbearing like Manny. Instead, she tries talking to her more calmly.

"Someone looks happy", Ellie says once she gets to her.

Peaches sighs dreamingly. "Ethan's great, isn't he?"

"Baby, I know you like this one, but just... don't let anyone change who you are, okay?"

"I know".

Ellie jumps and hooks her tail onto the tree to sleep for the night. But she notices Peaches not doing the same. "You coming up?"

The teen looks at Ethan and his friends, who are sleeping on the ground. So she decides to copy them. "I think I'm going to sleep down here tonight". She tells her mom.

Ellie is slightly skeptical but allows it anyways. "Okay... Night, baby".

"Night, Mom". Before falling asleep, Peaches looks back at the night sky, going back to feeling sad about her missing dad and sister, and wishing them a good night. "Night, Dad. Night, Red".

Chapter Text

Redwood's designs (ages 6, 10, 14, & 17-18) all look so amazing [my baby is growing up 🥹]. Coral looks super cool [the outfit suits her so well]. As for the 3rd guy... well, just read the chapter to know who he is. I might also put this image in the 1st chapter when I'm done with the story).

Anyways, onto the chapter.

_______________________________________

As we enter the next day, Manny and the others remain floating in the sea. The iceberg they were on seemed to be getting smaller by the minute; melting away as time passed.

Shira and Coral weren't happy about having to be stuck with the herd for a while, but honestly, what else could they do? They had no way of finding where Gutt was and any other idea they could have wasn't going to work due to being in the middle of the freaking ocean. All they could do was wait until they spotted some land to make their move.

Meanwhile, Granny struggles to eat a huge clam and Sid sits near the edge of the iceberg. After a few failed attempts, Granny just passes the clam to Sid for help. "Hey, chew this sandwich for me".

Sid takes the clam but then asks something that's been bugging him for a while. "Granny, why didn't our family want us? What's wrong with us?"

"They think we're screw-ups and we can't do anything right", She responds.

Coral, who was close enough to hear them, talks to Sid and Granny in a rude tone. "Well, they're not wrong. With all the damage you've done to our ship, I'd say they were right to leave you behind. Heck, Gutt should've done the same so this wouldn't happen".

"Shut it, sea rat! Nobody asked you!" Redwood hissed at her before turning to Sid. "Don't listen to her, Sid. You aren't a screw-up. Sure, you make mistakes... sometimes ones that are bigger than others, but your enthusiasm makes up for it".

Sid smiles at her for trying to cheer him up, just as Coral rolls her eyes. She didn't understand why Redwood acted this way towards these mammals as if they were her friends. Despite being around the pirates for a long time, Coral has never acted all chummy with them. There were a few exceptions where she did, but she never made it too personal. She had her reasons, and she planned on sticking to them.

Meanwhile, Sid was able to open up the clam for Granny, only to find Scrat in there. The two scream in surprise at each other before Granny decided to beat Scrat with her cane.

"It's a rat!" She hit him a couple of times before he was knocked unconscious and landed in the water. Immediately afterwards, the clam shut itself on Sid's hand, causing him to yell in pain while trying to get it off.

He ends up hitting the clam on their iceberg, which got it off him but also ended up breaking more of the ice, making it smaller than before.

"Screw up!" Granny scolded Sid.

"Oh, Sid!" Manny exclaimed, forcing the group to squish closer together as they all tried to stay on whatever was left.

"We'll never make it home on this thing", Diego says.

"Huh, well, maybe you should have thought of that before you capsized our berg, genius". Shira criticized him.

"Yeah, trying to escape" He argues back.

"Wimp!"

"Whiner!"

"Crybaby!"

Both Redwood and Coral look unamusingly at the sabers. "That the best you got?" They say at the same time.

"Land!" Manny shouts.

"Yeah, land! ...Wait, what?" Diego looks at Manny, feeling confused.

"Not her. There!" Manny clarifies as he points to an island ahead of them. "Land! Everyone, paddle! Paddle!"

Everyone, (except for Granny), pitched in to paddle their way to the island. It took up most of their energy but it was worth it. They finally didn't have to worry about being stuck at sea anymore. Or at least for now.

They stepped off the ice and onto the sand of the island, feeling relieved. Diego and Redwood collapse out of exhaustion and Sid makes his way to a bush with yellow berries.

"Food! Oh, I missed you so much! Look at me, I've wasted away". He eagerly shoves most of them into his mouth, only for one to fly out of his nose and reveal that those weren't yellow berries he was trying to eat. Those were bees.

Sid freaks out as they all fly out of his mouth. He even smacks away the ones still near his face until they all leave.

Not wanting to deal with this and waste time, Manny picks up a piece of wood and talks to the rest of the herd. "Okay, snack time is over. We got to build a raft".

"Manny", Diego whined.

"We just got here. Can't we just take a little break? I want to get back to Peaches and Ellie as much as you do, but we can't do anything if we're tired", Redwood says.

"Wow, Shira and Coral must really hate building rafts". Sid comments.

Everyone looks over to see both Shira and Coral trying to make a break for it, running as fast as they could to get away.

"Go get them! They can help us get back!" Manny tells Diego and Redwood.

"Shira!"

"Come on! All I asked was for a break!"

The two chase after them as they head deeper into the island. Shira notices their pursuers and gets an idea on how to lose them.

"Coral! Split up!" She orders.

Coral nods and runs in a different direction, which causes Redwood to follow her while Diego stood behind Shira. With one of the herd members out of the way, Shira tried her best to lose Diego next.

She jumped over a large branch sticking out of a stone, which Diego got caught in but still kept running after her. She then hits her side on a pile of rocks, knocking them down along with a large log. Diego manages to dodge those too however. Shira then ran towards a dead end with enormous stone walls blocking her path.

"Gotcha!" Diego believed he had her cornered. That is until she started climbing up the stone walls with ease. "Whoa". Unable to do the same, Diego took a different route.

Shira, after making it to the top of the walls, looked behind her and thought she finally lost him. She thought wrong however, as Diego pounced on her from the side and pinned her down.

"Let go of me!" She struggled to get free.

"Where do you think you're going?" Diego asked. He kept her still before looking up and seeing something ahead. Something that caught him by surprise. "Whoa!"

*During Redwood's Chase*

Coral could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she had been avoiding Redwood for longer than she wanted. She may have been fast and agile, but no matter how fast she ran or how quickly she maneuvered through the woods, Redwood was still close by, determined to catch her.

Seeing how zigzagging her way around the trees wasn't working, Coral instead decided to climb up one of them. As she reached the top branch, she looked behind her to see Redwood climbing as well, causing Coral to keep going and start jumping from tree to tree.

She was kind of impressed with how much determination Redwood had. It was almost admirable. But that didn't stop her from also feeling annoyed by the relentlessness of this chase. "Jeez! Will you just quit it?!" Coral yelled. "Why do you want me anyway? I thought you didn't wanna deal with me!"

"Well, we need to build a raft to get home! You and Shira have been on a stable ship for a while! You should know a thing or two about water transportation!" Redwood responded.

"Even if we do, we aren't helping you or those things you call-- AHHH!" Coral tried to argue, but lost her balance after jumping onto one tree branch and fell down onto a pile of leaves that were placed in the small area on the ground. Instantly after she landed, a net hidden under said leaves snapped up, ensnaring Coral in midair. "What the heck!"

Redwood, having seen what happened, looked at this in confusion. She jumped off the trees and landed on the ground before walking over to a trapped Coral. "Huh... so... that's one way to catch you", she commented.

"Get me down from here!" Coral complained, only to get a glare from Redwood. "...Please?"

"Yeah right! Look, if anything, I'm leaving you here temporarily. You already tried to run from us just now and I don't trust you not to do it again", Redwood said. "I'll be back to see if Diego caugh--".

Suddenly, something forcefully pushes Redwood away from Coral, causing her to fall to the ground. The thing proceeds to kick away Coral's spear and points a sharp branch in her face.

"Ha! You thought you could get the best of old Rocky, huh? Well, you didn't!" The thing spoke in a cocky voice.

Redwood looked up at it and gasped. It was a tall humanoid figure with clothes that looked a little similar to her own. Though the figure was clearly shaking a bit while holding the branch in a position that gave poor defense as well as offense.

It took a minute for Redwood to realize that this figure was another human, a human guy for that matter, which shocked her for the second time that day.

Coral even had a similar reaction. "What? Another one?!" She exclaimed.

The human guy turned to look at her. "That's right! Another one! .....wait, what other one?"

Redwood then pushed him away from her, causing the guy to lose his balance momentarily. She then got up, ran toward her spear, picked it up, and aimed it at him, to which he noticed and did the same, trying to copy her pose in an awkward way.

"You thieves need to stop following me! I will not hesitate to spear you alive!" He threatened.

Redwood groans. "Okay, first off, you're holding your weapon the wrong way..."

The human guy sees this and clumsily tries to flip his weapon around.

Redwood rolls her eyes before continuing. "And second, I'm not a thief! I'm not even here by choice! I just want to make a raft and get back to my family! But the ocean is against us! We need help from selfish pirates! And it's just one problem after another! It's so... UGH!!!" She rambles, getting more and more frustrated.

The human male and Coral share a slightly concerned look before seeing Redwood shakingly sigh. To them, she almost didn't look like a total threat anymore. She just looked tired and upset, like she genuinely was sick of her current situation. And weirdly enough, only one of them started taking pity on her.

The human guy slowly put his spear down and questioned her. "So... you aren't here to steal from me?"

Redwood frowns at him. "...NO! What is there to even steal?!"

"Food, really. That's what the last fellows who came here took. Well... that and a few of the little guys around here", the human guy explained.

"Little who?" Coral asked, (still trapped in the net). "Also what last fellows?"

Before an answer was given, a sound was heard from the bushes and the human guy jumped at the noise. Though Redwood herself recognized it.

"Redwood! Where are you?"

He tried aiming his weapon again before Redwood stopped him. "No! Wait! It's just my friend! Just... hold on a minute, I'll be right back".

"Your what?" The guy asked in confusion.

Before she could leave, Redwood turned back with a serious expression. "...Look, I don't know anything about you, so I'm already taking a risk by doing this but...  can you watch over this one for me?" She points at Coral, who frowns at her. "I don't need her to escape, at least for now".

The guy looks at Coral, who shakes her head at him, and then back to Redwood, who's giving him a pleading look. He then does a salute and smiles. "You can count on me, girl I've just met".

"It's... Redwood", she hesitatingly says.

The guy looks at her confused. "Like the tree? That's unusual... but still cool".

"My name's Coral, if you wondering! Which I doubt you were." Coral said, mumbling the last part under her breath.

"Oooh! Is it because your hair is red? That's funny", The guy then jokingly takes a dramatic bow at Coral. "And my name is Rockamus! Hehe. Just kidding. It's actually just Rocky".

Redwood gave a half smile before hearing her name get called again. She ran off into the bushes, essentially leaving Coral and Rocky alone together.

"Hey, nerd! There's ants crawling on your feet". Coral smirked. Rocky freaked out as soon as she said that and started shaking his foot until he lost balance and fell over, which made Coral to laugh.

*Meanwhile* 

Redwood went through the bushes to the other side and saw Sid on a path up ahead. It seemed like he was looking for her. She rushed over to him to see what was going on.

Sid heard her footsteps and spotted her. "Redwood! There you are. Did you catch the other pirate yet?"

"Yeah, she's stuck in a net", she told him.

"Net?" Sid asked in confusion.

"Long story. But what about Shira?" Redwood asked.

"That's what we wanted to tell you". Sid said. "Diego didn't just catch her, he found something better". He grabbed her hand and rushed ahead as he led her away.

Eventually, Sid brought Redwood back to Manny and Diego, who were both looking over the edge of a cliff. Manny turned around and smiled as Redwood approached them. "What did you guys find?" She asked.

"Come see for yourself", Manny said.

The human girl looked over the view of the cliff and gasped in awe at what she was seeing. "Switchback Cove! It's the way home! We'll finally be able to get home now!" She cheered happily.

"Except for one small problem", Sid points down into the cove.

Redwood's happiness quickly faded as she took a look and realized what the issue was. "Oh no".

As it turned out, Captain Gutt and his crew were there as well, with a brand-new ship and everything. But there were also some little fuzzy animals, (apparently known as hyraxes), who were being forced by Gutt and his crew to work around them on the ship.

Gutt was even holding a whip and hurting them to work faster and harder. "You call this a ship you miserable runts?" He scolded.

"Yeah, you little runts. Get to work", Squint repeated while standing on a log.

"Faster, you worthless, wormy sons of sorry excuses for shark bait weevils!" Gutt yelled. Though his choice of words confused Mr. Flynn and Silas.

"What did he say?"

"I don't know".

"Now get this chunk of ice seaworthy by sundown... or I will keelhaul the lot of you!" Gutt continued abusing and yelling at the hyraxes as the herd saw the whole thing from the edge of the cliff.

"So what do you think?" Manny asked the others.

"Two words, anger management". Sid said, referring to Gutt's treatment of the poor creatures.

Manny then hit Sid's head in response. "I'm talking about the current! Diego's right! We found the way home".

"Yes, that's great. Too bad we don't have a ship", Sid frowned.

"Sure we do. It's right there", Manny turned Sid's head towards Gutt's new ship, to which the group quickly caught on to what his idea was.

"Well, that's a flawless plan". Shira called out. Apparently, the guys were able to trap her inside a tree with the bark as jail bars. It seemed sturdy enough to hold her for the time being. "You want to pirate a pirate ship from pirates". She finished.

"It pains me to say this, but it sounds like your prisoner has a point, fellas".

The herd turns to their side to see Rocky standing next to them and they all jump in surprise... except for Redwood, who just looked upset.

"How long were you standing there? I said I'd be right back!" Redwood exclaimed. "And what about Coral?!"

"Relax. She's right here", Rocky gestures behind himself, where Coral was standing with her hands tied behind her back and a frown on her face. "She tried getting out of the net and running off, but she was just setting off one trap after another. It took at least 5 failed escapes for her to give up and admit defeat".

"You don't need to tell her that!" Coral growled through her teeth.

Before Redwood could say something to them, she heard someone clear their throat and turned around to see Manny and Diego giving her looks. Though Sid had more of a surprised one.

"You found another human?" The sloth asked.

"Yeah," Redwood answered.

"And it's a guy this time?" Manny asked, albeit he sounded almost like he was about to interrogate her.

"Yes...?" Redwood hesitated. "His name is Rocky. We... sorta bumped into each other when Coral got caught in one of... I guess, his traps?"

"And you were gonna tell us... when?" Diego said the last question.

"Well..."

"She doesn't need to answer every single one of your questions!" Coral cuts in. "What if she didn't wanna tell you? You guys aren't her parents, and she's entitled to her secrets".

"Not when it involves guys," Manny said.

"And besides, this doesn't concern you", Diego told Coral.

"Uh, me and Shira are taken hostage against our will by you guys, and you haven't gotten us to do anything aside from being bystanders. So unless you plan on letting us go, at least let me give my opinion on this topic". Coral said.

"I don't think you're opinion matters to them", Rocky spoke.

"Well, I think--!"

"Guys". Sid shushes them while looking towards the woods. "The trees have ears".

The herd turns to see a small tree with eyes and ears poking out of it. However, it's quickly revealed that it's only a few of the hyraxes that weren't captured by Gutt and his crew. More of them began revealing themselves and were peaking out of different trees, squeaking amongst themselves as they looked at the herd.

"Hey, some of them didn't get caught! Hi guys!" Rocky waved to the small critters, and they waved back.

Manny looked between the hyraxes in front of them and the ones that the pirates held hostage on their ship. He then quickly got an idea on how they would be able to steal the ship, as well as save those small critters.

"Wait a minute, maybe we can help each other", Manny lured the hyraxes away from their hiding spots, trying to gain their trust. "Hey, little fellas. Hey, come on out. No, no, it's okay. We're not going to hurt you".

Rocky saw the hyraxes hesitate and gave them a thumbs-up gesture. "Hey, it's fine. They seem cool..." He looked towards Redwood and Coral for confirmation. "These guys are cool, right?"

Redwood nodded yes while Coral shook her head for no.

Regardless of their response, the hyraxes came out of hiding and walked toward the herd.

"How about you and us against the pirates, huh?" Manny told them. Though the only response he got from them was straight silence. "You got no idea what I'm saying, do you? Okay, uh... ship, me want".

"Yeah, nice try Jungle Jim", Shira mocked.

"Go ahead, make fun. He got it". Manny said.

"To be honest, I completely forgot she was still here", Redwood commented.

Just then, the lead hyrax went up to Manny and handed him a banana, thinking that's what he wanted.

Manny awkwardly accepted it however. "Thank you".

"This is getting us nowhere", Coral sighed before turning to Rocky. "Hey, uh, buddy? Do you know how to communicate with these guys?"

Rocky shook his head. "Not really. Their language is hard to understand. Believe me, I've tried learning it for a while. The only way you'll be able to get through to them is if you make certain gestures".

His words gave Sid an idea to try out. "Uh, may I try?"

"Yeah, knock yourself out, dude", Rocky shrugged. 

"Okay, watch this". Sid did a couple of vocal warm-ups before he started making weird noises and overexaggerated movements and gestures. He even tried imitating Gutt at some point.

The hyraxes watched him very attentively while the others just looked super confused by whatever Sid was doing.

Coral, (despite having tied up hands), nudged Redwood and whispered to her. "This is one of the guys you live with?"

"I've seen him do weirder things. This isn't that bad", Redwood responded.

Sid eventually finished up his... performance(?) with a spin. "Ta-dah!" Afterwards, the hyraxes all nodded as if they understood everything.

"That, they got?" Diego questioned.

The hyraxes huddled up and spoke quietly with each other before having the lead hyrax jump out with war paint on his face. He threw a twig on the ground and made aggressive movements, to which the rest of the hyraxes copied after him.

"Yup, they're in", Rocky confirmed.

"Great, we'll free your buddies and we can all work together to kick a little pirate booty". Manny announced.

Sid and the lead hyrax danced happily at the agreement. Meanwhile, Rocky enthusiastically pulled both Coral and Redwood in for a group hug, feeling excited about what the herd would be planning. Redwood gave a half smile and Coral just glared at Rocky.

Manny, Diego, and Sid saw this and while Sid was about to say something, Manny pushed Rocky and Coral off Redwood and Diego pulled her to the side.

They didn't like the idea of her being too close with either of them. After all, Coral was still a dangerous pirate, and they knew nothing about Rocky. If anything, they hoped this plan would go off without a hitch so they could get her as far away from those two as possible.

Chapter Text

The sun eventually set over the island and the night soon began. Shira was still trapped inside the tree that the herd stuck her in and seemed to be resting. As for Coral, she was sitting on the floor while her arms were tied to a tree. The herd kept her far away from Shira just in case they tried to team up and find a way to escape. But they were still close enough so the herd wouldn't lose track of them.

As Shira was about to drift off to sleep, she heard a branch break and angrily growled to scare off whoever was there. As it turns out, it was only Diego, who brought over some water in a wooden bowl. "Easy, kitty. Water. You need it". He pushed it into the tree to offer her some.

Shira pushed it back out, however. "I don't need anything from you". She said bitterly.

"Fine, die of thirst. That'll really show me". Diego sarcastically says. Before he could walk away, Shira called after him.

"Wait! ...I'll take it". She reluctantly told him. After Diego pushed the water back, Shira tried thanking him, though her tone was aggressive. "Thank you!"

"You know, you have a way of saying 'thank you' that makes it sound like 'drop dead'," Diego mentioned.

"It's a gift". Shira remarked. "Well, you're pretty soft, for a saber".

"Excuse me, I am not soft, okay. I happen to be a remorseless assassin".

Right after he says that, Sid comes skipping towards the two sabers and tosses a necklace over Diego's head, embarrassing him and making his previous statement seem inaccurate.

"Diego-poo! Hey, I made you another coral necklace. He keeps losing them". Sid snickers while telling Shira the last bit before skipping away again.

Shira just smirks at this. "Yeah, I think I'm starting to get why you're not in a pack".

"Listen, I chose to leave my pack, all right?" Diego states.

"Congratulations, warrior princess. So did I".

"Really?"

"What?"

"Nothing, I just... I know how hard that is; Walking away from everything you know". Diego tries relating to her, but Shira doesn't seem to care.

"Oh, great, what? Are we going to braid each other's fur now?"

"Funny. Really funny. Can I tell you the difference between you and me?" Diego asks.

"I wouldn't still be wearing that necklace?" Shira smirks.

Diego looks down and irritably yanks the necklace off. "No! We both might have wanted out of pack life, but at least I didn't trade one pack for another. I got something more".

"Oh, yeah. What's that?" Shira questions.

"A herd".

"What's the difference?"

"We have each other's backs", Diego explains.

"Gutt has my back! I'm his first mate". Shira argues.

"Really? Because I don't see Gutt sending out any search parties for you or Coral". Diego points out.

Shira is taken aback by his statement and surprisingly doesn't have a response for it. Technically, he wasn't wrong. But she refused to admit to it and still took Gutt's side. "You know, you won't beat him. Your big furry friend over there. He has no idea what he's up against".

"Yeah, but neither does Gutt". Diego turns away to look at the others. 

The rest of the herd, (including Rocky and the hyraxes) were all gathered near a campfire and listening closely to Manny as he told them about the plan and their roles. He even had it drawn on a boulder so nothing would be too confusing.

Shira looked at the group from afar and her eyes landed on Redwood and Rocky, who were both sitting apart due to Manny ordering them to. Shira hasn't seen many humans for as long as she remembers. Coral was the only exception until now, and it developed a little bit of curiosity within her mind.

"Hey, about that human kid... what's her story?" Shira asks Diego.

He looked a bit surprised that she had taken an interest in Redwood. As he thought about whether he should tell her, he looked back to see Redwood excuse herself from the group and walk away, leaving Diego confused about what she was gonna do.

*Meanwhile*

Coral was drifting off to sleep, but due to being tied up, it felt very uncomfortable. She had given up on trying to escape and realized that she'd probably never get to leave, which frustrated her to no end. She had anger built up within her since she was separated from her crew after the ship sank. And now that she's stuck with a bunch of animal misfits and stupid humans, it's been getting worse with every passing second. She just wanted to go home, but now it seems like she might need to find a new one... that is, if she can find a way out of there.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Coral quickly looked up to see Redwood staring at her. She had a concerned look with a hint of confusion. It was then that Coral realized she had a few tears in her eyes, but she shook them off and tried putting up a tough face. "What are you looking at?"

"I was gonna make a joke about how the tables have turned. But right now might not be the best time for that", Redwood says.

"Ya think?" Coral scowled.

"I mean, I'm still mad at you and those pirates for capturing me and the others before, but I'm not cruel".

Coral groans. "Ugh! Why are you even here? You've already trapped me against this tree with nowhere to run".

"I was just gonna ask if you're okay. Like if you need some food or something", Redwood scratches the back of her head.

"Oh, isn't this rich?" Coral complains. "So when I offer you kindness after a kidnapping, it's an issue. But if you do it, I'm supposed to accept it and be your best friend. Screw off!"

"I'm not saying that! Besides, you people were the ones who attacked us first! And you expected me to accept your 'kindness' despite having been kidnapped, as you said".

Coral rolls her eyes and looks away. "That's because I thought you'd understand. You think I wanted to attack you? No! I was following orders that I had no choice but to obey. If things were different, I would've... I mean, I could've... I should've..."

Her voice got quieter as she realized she wouldn't be able to explain herself in a way that would make her seem blameless. The whole attack that the pirates did against the herd was bad regardless of how it was framed and Coral knew it. Yet she still took part in it, and now this was her karma.

Coral sighs regrettably. "Look... maybe I should've done something about what happened. It's just been a long time since I've interacted with other humans. And you were definitely a surprise back there".

"To be honest, I was a bit shocked seeing you too". Redwood sat on the ground in front of Coral. "I haven't met more humans since I was a kid". She fiddled with her necklace as she spoke. "I've mostly just been living with my herd for at least almost 12 years, I think. They're all I've ever known and honestly, I haven't given much thought to if we ever crossed humans again".

"Wait... you're telling me you haven't seen humans for over a decade?!" Coral was genuinely surprised. Redwood really hasn't met another one of her own species for years and it's incredible how long she's lasted like this without thinking if there could still be others. "Man.."

Redwood nodded at her response before asking her a question. "What about you? How long has it been? Did you have your own tribe back then too?"

Coral went stiff at the question and turned away as if she heard something offensive. Redwood looked confused and tilted her head a little. "Are you okay?" Redwood asked. "You know, you don't have to share it if it makes you uncomfortable".

"Why are you suddenly nice to me?! I thought you didn't even like me!" Coral spoke, this time her tone was loud and aggressive.

Redwood was taken aback by this. "Hey, relax. It was just a question". She crosses her arms as Coral takes a second to control her anger.

"Sorry", the redhead says. "It's... just a sensitive topic. I don't like discussing it". Wanting to fix her mistake quickly, she tries to switch the topic around. "But ...about your herd. You said they were like family to you. What's the story behind that?"

Redwood gives her a look. "Wouldn't you like to know". She was hesitant as to whether she should answer. But she then thought that if Coral understood the herd better, maybe she'd decide to trust her more. Or at least have a bit of empathy.

After a few seconds of silence, Redwood gave her the story. "They found me when I was a kid. I used to be alone with a friend for a while; both of us searching for my parents. We stumbled upon an abandoned campsite and met the guys. Manny, Sid, and Diego took me in. Albeit, none of them really wanted us around... except for Sid. But over time, we all sorta got used to each other, which then led to us changing from what we were. Manny became more loving. Sid is... well, still Sid. And Diego found his place in a herd that gives him an exciting life. As for me, I had to grow up in the environment they provided me, adapting to insane stuff as we went along. And now, we've grown as a family who can't stand being away from each other".

As Coral listens to this, she looks between Redwood and the herd. She notices the fond smile on her face and sees that her thoughts about the others are genuine. There didn't seem to be any ulterior motive behind her words. She really looked like she cared about them. To anybody else, this seemed sweet. But to Coral, this was a huge deal.

But then she noticed something about the story. "Wait, you mentioned a friend. What happened to him... or her?"

"She ended up splitting from the herd. She fell for some weirdo and, well, we just let her go. It hurt a lot, but she was happy, and I didn't wanna split her up from her mate". Redwood gives a half smile. "Despite the loss, the experience also strengthened our herd as a family. And it just keeps growing".

Coral's expression softened. "Wow... You, uh... you really seem to care about these guys, huh?"

Redwood nods. "I love them. Just as much as my old parents, and as much as the family we have waiting for us back home".

"You know, when you first mentioned how you would rather go home than join us as pirates, I thought you were stupid, boring, and spineless". Coral admits.

"And now you think I'm the opposite?" Redwood guessed.

Coral smirked. "Nah, if anything, my opinion on you has just gotten worse. You're sweet, but still stupid".

Redwood gasped, pretending to get offended. "There is no pleasing you, is there? Not even with a touching backstory? And I thought pirates were dirty peasants with low standards".

"Not always. Let me tell you, living as a pirate, you need to have some high standards to find some quality bounty".

"Sure. Food is valuable but I wouldn't say it's quality." 

"Tell that to the dragon fruit! Finding that was like finding water in a desert, and it's completely worth it... or it was, until you guys sunk the ship". Coral says, her voice fading from sounding pleased to disappointed.

"I still kinda wanna know something", Redwood says. "If you won't talk about your tribe, can I at least know how you ended up as a pirate? And by extension, why you're with Gutt?"

Coral's smile faded slightly. This was basically another big and personal question for her. But it was one she actually wouldn't mind answering. "Didn't you hear the song before? He basically saved a majority of his crew; including me. It all started when I was--".

"The song sounded like toddlers sang it", Redwood remarked.

Coral cleared her throat. "ANYWAY! I was alone and starving while being holed up in a cave near a beach. A few days go by and I pass out while looking for food around the area. I eventually woke up, finding myself on the ship with Shira and Squint watching over me and making sure I was still alive. Apparently, they found me when they were looking for stuff on the beach, and Gutt was the one who suggested keeping me. He thought I'd be useful since, well, I'm human. We're natural-born hunters after all. He gives me food and a home, while I hunt for him with the crew. It's a good deal and I'm happy about it".

"Are you though?" Redwood says.

"Of course!" Coral answered, though it was rushed and, once again, slightly aggressive. She caught onto that and cleared her throat. "I mean, why wouldn't I be? Sure, it can sometimes get annoying when I get bossed around a lot, and I don't necessarily like robbing or attacking anyone we find. Not to mention that everyone can be annoying or rude to work with. But that's just how things need to be. If I wanna live, I gotta deal with what I was given. It's survival of the fittest".

"That's... not how that should work", Redwood frowns. "I mean, survival is incredibly important, but if you aren't living your life happily, then why try to live at all? Especially around a bunch of pirates you don't care about, or who don't seem to care about you?"

"Because it's... not that different from before?" Coral mumbles the last part as her eyes widen. She looked like she just realized something very important, and all it took was having a conversation with someone she disliked for only a minute.

"What do you mean by that?" Redwood asked.

"I... it's nothing." Coral says. "I just think that... ugh... you might have a point about something. Don't let it go to your head. It's already bigger than your ego".

"Okay, now you're just projecting, you jerk". Redwood smirks.

The 2 girls chuckled at this and the previous tension that happened between them started to fade ever so slightly. There was a part of Redwood that was hesitant about going to speak with Coral at first. Despite the rocky start, she now feels like she's eventually gonna get through to her. Redwood did kinda hate her before, but she needed time to sort her mind out. Which led to her coming to the conclusion that if Coral was able to be nice to her and attempt to show her "kindness" back on Gutt's ship, then maybe she isn't a lost cause. A terribly rude and thieving jerk? Yes. But there's a chance that could change.

Meanwhile for Coral, the whole conversation not only piqued her interest but she was realizing somethings that wouldn't have happened beforehand, and she was even starting to like Redwood a bit more. Coral had already admired Redwood for her determination, (even though she also found it slightly annoying since it was targeted against her), but it was also somewhat nice to see that she was a loyal and kind person.

But to be fair, she did have a family who loved her...

Right before she could ask her a question, Coral was interrupted by her own yawn.

"Tired?" Redwood asked.

"Yeah. I'm gonna try to get comfortable... Well, as comfortable as I can get anyway", Coral tugs on the ropes around her arms.

Redwood looked at her and saw the totally uncomfortable position she was gonna have to be stuck in for the rest of the night. She didn't wanna have to leave her like this, but cutting her out from the tree could really be a big risk if she decides to escape.

After thinking about this, she grabs her spear and cuts one of her arms loose from the ropes, but leaves the other one still stuck. Coral looks at her in surprise as she does this, but before she can ask why, Redwood already gave her an answer.

"Like I said before, I'm not cruel. I won't leave you like this for tonight, but I still don't trust you enough to let you go. " She said. "Just know this at least; we aren't bad people. We're just trying our best to get back to the rest of our family."

Coral nods understandably as she watches Redwood leave. She then mumbles to herself before calling after her. "Hey, I'm sorry... You know, about what happened with the pirates... and my... ugh... aggression earlier. I know it doesn't excuse what I did and it probably means nothing, but I wanted to say it".

Redwood hesitates with her response. "...Hope you sleep well tonight". She walks off back to the others, leaving Coral alone to sleep in a better position.

*Later on*

Redwood tries to make her way back to the others. Her conversation with Coral was definitely something. Coral obviously had some things she needed to think about, but overall she didn't seem too much like a bad person. And even though her empathy could use some work, she seemed like she really did mean it when she apologized.

Just then, a voice calls out to Redwood and snaps her out of her thoughts.

"Hey! Redwood, was it?"

It was Rocky.

"Oh, Rocky. Need something?" Redwood asked.

"Yeah, Manny needed me to build this thing. He said it's supposed to be part of the plan he has". Rocky grabs Redwood's hand and leads her behind some trees to show her a well-crafted sculpture of Manny. Despite being made of grass, fruits, and branches, among other natural materials, it really didn't look too bad.

"Whoa!" Redwood looks at the sculpture in awe. "This looks awesome! And you made it yourself?"

"Nah, you're buddy, Sid, helped me. But it's not completed yet. I need help with the tusks, and the trunk is a little slanted. Sid needed to sleep, so he asked me to get you for help", Rocky explained.

Redwood nodded. "All right then, let's get to work. What do you need me to do?"

Rocky handed out the fake tusks to her and asked her to help place them while he dealt with the trunk. The fake tusks seemed to be made out of some sort of smooth material, and it's scarily looked similar to a real tusk.

Feeling a little bit skeptical, Redwood spoke to Rocky. "Please don't tell me you got this thing off of a corpse".

Rocky looked at her in disgust. "What? No! I found the material near the beach. I just took a lot of time to sharpen it with this". Rocky takes out a survival knife and hands it over to Redwood so she can look at it. The knife also looked well crafted and it had a Paw symbol on its handle. Similar to how the leaf symbol was on her spear.

"And where did you get this?" Redwood questioned.

"It was a gift from my dad. Said it would come in handy someday", Rocky smiled.

Redwood looks at the knife curiously but then looks back towards Rocky. "If you don't mind me asking, because the last person I asked apparently got offended by this question, how long has it been since you've met humans? Did you have a tribe?"

As Rocky continued trying to adjust the fake trunk, the smile that was normally plastered on his face slightly faded, but he kept working as he spoke.

"I used to... My tribe used to hunt animals for a living. And when I mean for a living, I don't mean that we did it to survive or protect ourselves. It was for sport, and my family enjoyed the thrill of it," He sounded agitated as he said this. "Unfortunately, I was the black sheep in my group, at least that's what our chief used to call me. I wasn't as physically strong as everyone else, I genuinely found animals to be peaceful creatures, and I hated the taste of meat. I did, however, love crafting items and was especially good at traps. This didn't sit well with the rest of my tribe. They all thought I was soft. But thankfully, my dad was the only one who saw 'potential' in me".

Redwood listened attentively to his story. But she still had questions. "Really? Well, where is he now?"

Rocky stops working completely. "... A small group took me hunting one time, thinking I should at least try it once. My dad came along to make sure I'd stay safe. We found this... I think it was a Dire Wolf. Anyways, the group gave me a spear and sent me alone... But I just couldn't bring myself to do it. The wolf then saw me and tried to attack; it even howled for its pack to come over. A fight broke out with my group and the wolves afterwards. I made it back... my dad didn't". Rocky took deep breaths and blinked tightly, trying to prevent himself from tearing up.

"Hey, it's alright. Take your time". Redwood comforted him. She waited patiently until he calmed down so he could continue his story.

Once he got himself together, he spoke again. "The hunt was a failure, as you can tell, and the group blamed me for losing the tribe's best hunter because I was a coward. The chief heard this, and he decided to cast me out by myself. He said unless I can make something successful of myself, I wouldn't be allowed back. So I traveled throughout most of the area for a while. I soon got to the ocean and built myself a boat for fishing. But I got bored. So being the stupid idiot I was, I fell alseep and accidently drifted into the sea overnight. Thankfully, it lasted less than 3 days before I managed to find this island. And I stayed here for at least... I think it's been 5 years".

"5 years?" Redwood repeats. "I'm so sorry that happened to you".

"Hey, it's fine".  Rocky gets back to work on the fake sculpture. "I mean, do I miss being home everyday? Yeah. And do I miss being with people in general? Sure. But even with all the homesickness I get, there's a part of me that finds this experience to be very freeing... I don't know. It's complicated".

Redwood nods understandably as she continues to help him out. She helps him adjust some parts of the sculpture and even gives back his survival knife so he can finish up her part.

"You know you really remind me of someone I used to know". She gives a half smile. "He was also cut off from society and ended up living alone for a long time. He enjoyed the freedom in his life but I guess some part of him also wished he had someone".

"Really? What happened to this guy?" Rocky asked.

"He fell in love with another friend of mine. She stood with him in the place he was living. They were a cute couple, and he seemed happy with her". Redwood gives a half smile as she thinks back to her last adventure with Avery and Buck.

"Wow. Wonder if I'll eventually get to meet them". Rocky says before reaching his hand out. "By the way, can you pass me that rope? I think this should be almost done. I'll finish the rest and you can go to sleep".

Redwood tosses him the rope and takes a minute to review his work on the Manny decoy. It was very well done in terms of its sturdiness. Maybe some parts still needed work, but not everything about it was meant to be perfect. It was a decoy after all. As for appearance... it was acceptable. You couldn't tell it was a fake Manny unless you were truly looking for some differences, or at least if you were too close to it. But overall, Rocky did prove himself to be good at craftsmanship and it definately shows through this.

But that's when Redwood noticed something. Rocky was putting in a lot of effort into this when he could've done just the bare minimum. He's only known her and the herd for a few hours. In fact, he doesn't even know them at all. So why is he even helping? What's there for him to gain?

"Why are you doing this?"

"What?" Rocky asks.

Redwood realized she said her question out loud, but she didn't try to back out from it. "Why are you helping us? I mean, we really appreciate it, don't get me wrong. But you don't benefit from doing this. Unless you're doing it for the little creatures".

"Well, of course, I'm doing it to help them. The little guys don't deserve to be captured and enslaved, especially by those nasty pirates. But I guess it's also because... I kinda like you and your herd too". Rocky scratches the back of his head and smiles. "You're all pretty weird. But it's the fun kinda weird. Reminds me of how me and my dad used to be. And if the rest of your family is also like that, it'll be a tragedy not to get you guys back to them".

"Huh... that's nice of you". Redwood smiles.

"Hey, family is everything. Not everyone is lucky to have one. Or at least one that cares for them". Rocky gets down from the decoy but still tends to it. "Now go get some sleep. The plan will be set into motion first thing in the morning. And once you guys board the ship, I'll hang around here to make sure this island stays safe. And if you ever wanna visit, this place is always open to you and your herd".

"Thanks, Rocky". Redwood gives him a side hug before heading back to the herd to get some sleep. As Rocky waves at her, she begins replaying not only the conversation they just had, but also the one with Coral. Meeting 2 new humans in the span of 2 days and seeing how drastically different they were from each other.

Coral was intense and aggressive, and yet she also seemed like she had some issues to work out. Meanwhile, Rocky was weirdly kind and clearly smart, but has been through a rough time. Between both humans, Redwood can only hope that she'll manage to befriend both of them and maybe even have her own friend group of humans.

One can only dream, especially in her situation.

Speaking of which, she hopes that Manny knows what he's doing and that his plan to steal the pirate ship will work. She just wants to get home with her family and make sure the others are okay. Out of the adventures she's had before, this was her most frustrating.

Redwood reaches the campfire and begins to rest against a tree that was next to a sleeping Diego. She did a head count to make sure Manny and Sid were still there before doing the same for Shira and Coral. Once that was done, she rested her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Tomorrow was gonna be the day they pirate a pirate ship from a bunch of pirates.

*2 Hours Later in the Night*

"Psst. Coral!"

The human pirate awakens from her sleep to find Shira standing over her. She sits up in surprise but gets shushed before she can even speak. Shira gestures to the sleeping herd and urges her to whisper.

"Shira? How did you escape?"

"Don't worry about it. I'll get you out of these restraints, and we can get out of here". The female saber claws at the rope on Coral's other arm. It takes a few attempts, but she manages to cut her free. "Let's go. We have until sunrise to warn Gutt about this".

She takes off as Coral rubs her wrist before following her. But it only takes 3 steps before she stops and looks back at the herd; especially Redwood. Coral has been thinking about their conversation from earlier and how it forced her to actually think about what she was doing when it came to being with Gutt and his crew... and how her life has never changed, nor got better from how she was before.

Shira stops once she notices the redheaded human not following her anymore and turns back for her. "Coral! We have to go! What's wrong?"

Coral looks to her side before sighing in shame. "Hey, Shira... Do you ever feel regretful about some things?"

"What do you mean?"

"I... I don't..." Coral holds herself tightly. Her mind is shouting at her to say what she wants to say. But instead, out of sorrow, she lets herself go and decides to say something else. "This... 'herd'... Maybe we made the wrong choice on attacking them. We should just leave them be".

"Are you crazy?" Shira whisper-yells. "Coral! They're coming after our ship. Everything that Gutt has rebuilt since we were gone. This 'herd' imprisoned us!"

"We imprisoned them!" Coral argues back.

"They sunk our old ship!"

"After we attacked them!"

Shira groans. "Coral, we're pirates! This is what we do!"

Coral holds herself again, but tries to stand her ground. "Then... then I quit being a pirate!"

Shira quietly gasps in disbelief before shaking her head. "You don't mean that. Come on, you enjoy this life as much as me. It's the reason you ran away from your family and chose it".

"I left my tribe because I thought things would be better once I was gone from that old life. But it didn't take me until now to realize that nothing has changed for me. I'm just reliving everything again and I hate it. I know you hate it too! Or at the very least, you don't enjoy it as much as you say you do".

The female saber was taken aback by Coral's words. Seeing the human start to rebel only one day of being away from the crew; not to mention that she was also pointing out how Shira actually felt about the whole thing and threw it in her face. But unfortunately, Shira's pride was too big to admit she was right. Plus her fear of what Gutt would do if he knew about this was also a big factor on why she wasn't gonna back down to this.

"Coral, we have no choice. We can't go back to what we were. We're in this together, and we're going to keep moving".

"But what if we don't have to? I know we can't go back, but what if there's another way?" Coral questions.

"What other way? You expect to try and run away again? Cuz neither of us can this time! Gutt will try to find us if we do. Face it! We backed ourselves into a corner, and there's no going back. Now come on, let's make our way back to Gutt before the sun rises". Shira begins to sneak away and get to the ship without waking the herd. And she was hoping in her mind that Coral will at least make a sensible choice... for her sake.

But Coral eventually made up her mind...

Chapter Text

Early the next morning, both the herd and the hyraxes began preparing for their plan to take over the pirate ship. Manny was leading everyone to make sure they all remembered their roles as he recapped the plan. "Okay, we need precision timing from everyone to get that ship. Half-pint, you got your end covered, right?"

The lead hyrax makes some fighting noises/moves and his fellow hyraxes all copy him right before he does a little growl.

"I'm going to take that as a 'yes'. Diego?" Manny turns to the others.

"I'll free his little friends". Diego responds.

"Redwood?"

"Rocky and I will set up the decoy & signal you guys when it's time to move", Redwood replies while Rocky nods.

"And you're sure I can trust you on this?" Manny asks her. "Especially with him".

"It won't be like last time. I promise", Redwood says.

"You've made a lot of promises. None of them ended well", Manny reminds her.

Diego intervenes. "Manny! She'll be fine".

Manny sighs before turning to the last duo. "Sid and Granny?"

Sid does a salute while speaking like a soldier. "Sir! Untie the ship, sir!"

"Right, unwind the vines, and don't let go until we're all on board. We're relying on you, Sid. You got that?" Manny tells him.

"Yes, sir. Totally focused, sir". Sid responds.

"Don't worry. It'll be easy since we don't have to guard Shira and Coral anymore". Granny points to the tree that Shira was trapped in, only for the others to see that the bark was destroyed and Shira was nowhere to be seen.

They all gasped in panic as Redwood quickly looked around for Coral, believing she was gone too. "Are you kidding me?!" She yells in anger.

Diego rushes over to the edge of the cliff just in time to spot Shira running to Gutt's ship; realizing she was gonna warn the pirates about their plan. Though weirdly enough, he didn't see Coral with her. If she wasn't going back, then where is she?

Manny looked puzzled as well, but with Shira's escape giving them less time to react, they didn't have time to worry about Coral. "We need to move, now." Manny says. Everyone else nods and rushes off to put the plan in motion.

As they all leave, Coral peaks out from behind the boulder that Manny drew his plan on. She makes sure the area is completely empty before coming out with a net in her hands; the same one she was captured in before. "I hope this works". She whispers to herself.

*With The Pirates*

Gutt begins ordering his crew around as they prepare to set off with the ship. "Squint, batten down the hatches. Raz, hoist the anchor. And, Gupta, fly the colors".

"Of course, Captain". Gupta eagerly scurries up the pole and becomes the ship's flag yet again.

"We're setting sail for vengeance, lads!" Gutt announces.

Mr. Flynn claps his hands excitedly. "Ooo! I love vengeance".

Just then, Shira finally makes it back to the crew and calls out for Gutt. "Captain!"

"Shira!" Gutt spots her. "Oh, what a relief! I thought we'd lost you". He says, faking the concern in his tone. He then notices Coral didn't arrive with her. "But where is our human?"

"The mammoth! He washed ashore with me. He's--"

"What? He's here?" He immediately jumps towards Shira the second she mentions Manny, hoping to hear if he suffered while she was with him. "Did you sink your fangs into him? Did he beg for his life?"

"No, the saber took me down". Shira says shamefully. "And Coral is... gone. I haven't seen her since the ship fell apart".

Gutt was NOT happy to hear any of this. Slamming his fists down, he scolds Shira angrily as she backs up against a wall in fear. "You're a failure! I need warriors! You made us lose one of them! Now all I have are kitty cats and bunny rabbits".

"And a seal and a kangaroo", Flynn adds.

Gutt sighs tiredly before going back to threatening Shira. "You take the saber down, or you die trying. No excuses".

"Yes, Captain". Shira answers before Gutt lets her go.

"Mr. Squint".

"Aye, sir". The speedy rabbit comes quickly.

"You're first mate now".

"Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of cool with me, Captain. Out of my way, saber! You answer to me now!" Squint gloats to Shira.

Despite being annoyed by this, Shira was also feeling distressed as she realized Gutt had basically taken away her position and replaced her with Squint of all people. Not to mention that she was already being threatened to take down Diego, otherwise... she didn't even wanna guess what could happen if she failed again.

And to think, she really thought she was making a good choice coming back there. Ignoring all of Diego and Coral's points about how bad this all was; Coral especially, since she presumably enjoyed being with the pirates too before suddenly deciding to leave... or so Shira thought. And what was even worse? She won't be able to turn back now that she's already there. Gutt is already hellbent on searching for Manny and getting revenge on him and his herd. Shira leaving now means she's fending for herself while being next on his chopping block.

Her only current option was just to accept everything that just happened and do her best to not make it worse. And she could start by giving Gutt a warning about the herd's arrival. "Gutt, listen, he's coming for the..."

Before she could finish, a horn was heard being blown in the distance. Gutt took out a spyglass and used it to search for the source of the noise. As it turns out, a hyrax was blowing through a small shell while standing near the top of a hill. Upon further inspection, it summoning an army of hyraxes riding on top of other hyraxes (that were acting as horses). They all held sticks as swords and shells as shields, being prepared to charge as their leader moved to the front of the army.

They all gave mighty warrior yells... or at least that's what it would've sounded like if they weren't so small. In reality, their yells were shrill and they appeared non-threatening to the point that a butterfly landed on them.

Seeing this pathetic display, Gutt and the other pirates all laughed in mockery. Noticing this, the hyrax that blew the shell then discarded it to grab a much bigger one. It took a deep breath before blowing into it, making another horn noise, but with way more bass. Hearing this as the signal, Redwood & Rocky moved the decoy of Manny behind the army of hyraxes. (And thankfully, they weren't seen by the pirates while doing this).

Believing that it was actually the mammoth he wanted vengeance on, Gutt's mockery of the situation turned into rage as soon as he saw the decoy. He immediately turned to his crew and ordered them to prepare for their attack. "Grab your weapons, mates!"

The pirates obey and one by one take out their best weapons... except for Flynn.

"Not the spoon, Flynn!" Gutt yells.

Flynn fixes his mistake by flicking off the top of the spoon, essentially making it into a small knife.

"Follow me!"

The entire crew goes with Gutt as they all charge towards the hyraxes and the decoy Manny, leaving the ship unguarded and unsupervised. Seeing this, Redwood and Rocky sprint away and head towards the woods for cover.

"It worked!" Redwood whispered.

"Good. You get to Manny and tell him. I'll make sure the little guys are safe once Diego saves them". Rocky starts to walk away until Redwood stops him.

"Wait... are you gonna be okay? You can come with us. The others might not be too thrilled about it, but I can convince them and--".

"Redwood, I already told you that I'm staying here. I wanna try and make this island safe. Especially for the little guys. Believe me, I would love to go with you and meet the rest of your family... but once I make a plan for something, I stick to it". Rocky tells her.

"Right..." Redwood frowns.

Rocky puts a hand on her shoulder and smiles. "Don't worry about me. I'll be alright. And I know you will be too. You're a tough girl. Tougher than I'll ever be". He hugs her sweetly and she returns it. After they break apart, Redwood nods to him before running off.

She then stops and turns back to him, giving him a half smile. "Until we meet again, Rockamus". Redwood does a small bow before turning back and running off to see Manny.

Rocky smiles back. "What a nice girl". A small part of him wishes he took her deal and went home with her. But the thing is... he spend years on this island and has been growing attached to it for a while. He couldn't just leave and have it be unprotected just because he wants to be with a potential new friend. He was gonna commit to what he said and make the place better and safer.

So with a new look of determination on his face, he went off to wait for the hyraxes to be rescued. Once they're all safe, he'll start rebuilding something for himself.

*With Sid & Granny*

"Get to the ship, don't screw up. Get to the ship, don't screw up". Sid whispered to himself as he and Granny snuck off to the back of the ship, where it was being held in place by a bunch of vines wrapped around some rocks.

Granny unwinded some of them and passed them to Sid, who needed to hold on to them and not let go until everyone made it to the ship.

"Unwind the vines".

"Don't let go".

"Unwind the vines".

"Don't let go".

"Unwind the vines".

"Don't let... Oh, yummo!" Sid gets distracted by a nearby red berry and jumps ahead to grab it, letting go of the vines in the process.

Before he could eat it, Diego, (who is covered by the hyraxes he saved. They all wouldn't stop hugging him once he did), comes by and yells at him. "Sid, no! That's a lotus berry! It will paralyze you!"

"Oh, please. I know my berries", Sid does a sassy hand gesture before eating the berry anyways.

"Don't... swallow". Diego looks on in concern.

"See, I'm fine. If there's one thing I know, it's berrwwies". Suddenly, Sid's limbs all started to go slack until he was completely paralyzed, being unable to move or even speak normally. "Uh oh!"

*Back with The Pirates*

The hyrax army and pirates charge at each other at high speed. However, unbeknownst to the pirates, on the side of the path, there were more hyraxes positioned on a high ledge. Using leaves as gliders, they jumped off and made their way to the army. Once they were close enough, the hyrax army used their sticks and aimed them forward, pushing them to the ground and pole-vaulting themselves into the air to grab onto the gliders.

This left Gutt and the crew confused as they paused and watched it happen. When they looked back to where they thought Manny would be, Squint immediately took action and sprinted towards the decoy.

"Yeah, finally!" He took out his dagger and swarmed around it, slicing it off until he managed to completely cut off the head. "Who's the Easter Bunny now?!" He laughed like a lunatic.

The head bounced down the path towards Gutt, who quickly realized that it was actually a watermelon with fake tusks. He angrily crushed it with his foot and growled before turning back to see the real Manny and Redwood running to his ship.

"It worked, he bought it!" Manny told Diego as they joined up.

"Come on!" Diego responded and the trio made their way to get Sid. (The hyraxes that were hugging Diego earlier have been dropped off to Rocky).

"No, no! It's been a diversion". Gutt exclaimed.

"I know, I'm having a blast". Flynn smiled.

"No, pinhead!" Gutt pulled Flynn's trunk and let go as a way to hurt him. "They're stealing my ship!"

*Meanwhile*

As Manny, Diego, and Redwood get to the others, they see Sid still paralyzed on the ground. Diego had to explain to them what happened, and needless to say, both of them were upset but not surprised by this.

"One thing, Sid! You couldn't do one thing?" Manny exclaimed. "Look at you".

"And you said I couldn't be trusted!" Redwood crossed her arms.

"Sid, can you hear me?" Manny lifts Sid's eyelid as Sid groans and looks over at the ship, which is starting to take off since no one was holding the vines.

Granny is also the first to notice this but waves at it instead of telling the herd or grabbing the vines to stop it. "Bye-bye".

"Say something, buddy". Redwood tries to speak with Sid, but he's unable to respond with any words aside from a couple of groans and weird noises.

"Whoa!" Diego looks up to see the pirates rushing back towards them. "Let's go". He tells the others as he lifts Granny onto his back and begins to run.

Manny picks Sid up by his leg and turns around as the ship begins to sail off. "The ship! Come on, we've got to catch it before it hits open water!" He runs off with Sid's flailing body.

Redwood is about to run over as well, but stays behind as she hears shouting behind her. She turns back and realizes that there are traps going off around the pirates. Most of them were snares that were easily escapable but still effective in slowing them down. Some were made with very familiar nets, some were tripwires, and one trap even involved a deep hole.

Redwood smirked, thinking that Rocky must've set them up as well. But the more she thought about it, the less likely it seemed; because she noticed that if Rocky did build them, they would fully catch the pirates, not just slow them down. And even if they were intended for that, why are they poorly made?

She wanted to dwell on this a little longer but knew she had no time, so she began running to catch up with the others. But unfortunately, she didn't get very far, as she felt a sharp pain that caused her to yelp before falling to the ground. She turned around and saw that a dagger was pierced into her left leg's calf. Upon further inspection, she saw that Squint managed to avoid most of the traps and had thrown one of his daggers at her to slow her down.

Redwood yanked the dagger out of her leg, which was very painful, and struggled to get up as fast as she could. However, it wasn't fast enough, for when she looked up, she saw the pirates had gotten past the traps and were back to chasing the herd at full speed.

Squint charged at Redwood and was ready to attack her like he did with the decoy of Manny. But as he leaped into the air, he was quickly smacked away with a tree branch and knocked unconscious. Redwood assumed it was one of the herd members or at least Rocky, but she was in for a surprise.

The holder of the branch was none other than Coral herself, and she looked almost... relieved? The look on her face was like she just saved a cat from death or something.

"You?!" Redwood exclaimed in both confusion and frustration. "How and why did you-- AH!"

Coral tossed the branch to the side and picked Redwood up bridal style before running away towards the ship. Redwood was stunned by this to say the least, but still had multiple questions running through her head for this moment. Coral must've been able to read her expression and possibly her mind due to what she says next.

"Running now! Questions later!" She said firmly with a hint of panic in her tone. "We gotta find your herd before the ship takes off!"

"Wait! You're helping me?" Redwood asks.

"I sabotaged myself by not returning to the pirates. I set up a bunch of traps to slow down Gutt and his crew. I smacked Squint with a branch. And I'm carrying you to your family because you're injured. What does it look like to you?" Coral frowns.

Redwood blinked expressionless at her before sighing and accepting what was happening. This moment felt very strange considering everything that's happened to her for the last few days, but right now, she just wants to get back with the others.

Though she couldn't help but do at least a small bit of teasing. "Rocky would've built those traps better".

Coral growls at the sound of Rocky's name. "Don't make me drop you! I have enough regrets at the moment. I don't need saving you to be another one".

Redwood chuckles while Coral rushes to a different path. One that she hopes is a shortcut to the ship.

*Meanwhile, With The Herd*

Sid is being dragged across the ground while Manny is holding him and ends up hitting his head on a piece of ice. "Sorry! All right, I'll hold you higher". Manny holds Sid up to his eye level, which results in Sid whacking his head on branches this time. "Sorry. Sorry".

Diego looks behind them and is just now noticing that Redwood is missing. "Wait, where's Redwood?!"

He and Manny look around frantically while still running. They thought she was behind them this whole time. How did they lose track of her?

They're search distracted them a bit as Silus (the bird) flew towards Manny and yanked on his eyelid. "Say adieu, mammoth!"

"Ow!" Manny smacks Silus away with Sid's flailing body. It worked, but Sid now had feathers in his mouth. "Sorry, buddy!" Manny apologized, but all Sid could do as a response was give more weird noises.

Meanwhile, Coral and Redwood were able to get ahead of the ship, as well as the others. Coral saw the big gap between them and the ship and prepped herself to jump across.

Redwood realized this and panicked. "Whoa! Whoa! This isn't a good IDEAAAA!"

But it was too late. Coral ran ahead while holding Redwood and jumped across the gap. She used her strength to toss Redwood midair and, thankfully, she was able to get her to land on the ship, albeit a very rough landing. Coral on the other hand, almost didn't make it, but she managed to grab the ledge just in time instead of falling straight into the water. Coral then used her sword to stab the ship and pull herself up, while Redwood used her spear as a cane to lean on and tried to stand.

Redwood then looked around for her family and saw Manny, Sid, Diego, and Granny still running towards the ship and getting closer. "Guys! Over here!" She waved at them.

Manny and Diego were relieved to see her safe and sound, but also a bit confused about how she got there before them. But they were gonna worry about that later.

Once they were close enough, Manny tried tossing Sid's body onto the ship first, but considering that it was made of ice, Sid landed on it, only to slide off right after. Manny freaked out before quickly sighing in relief upon seeing that Sid landed on a block of ice in the water. "I'm coming, Sid".

He and Diego push down a large rock and ride it down into the water and on the ice that Sid is on, which causes him to fling up into the air. Sid is still babbling when he falls back down and Manny aims to catch him with his trunk. "I got you! I got you!" Sid lands and Manny succeeds. "I got you!"

Gutt realizes that he and his crew won't be able to catch up in time, so he decides to try something different. He stops at a ledge and whistles a command that calls over two narwhals in the water. Gutt hops on down and lands on the narwhals, using them to ride over to Manny and the others.

"I'm coming for you, mammoth!" Gutt laughs sinisterly.

As he got closer, Manny was forced to try and think of an idea fast. Once he had one, he tilted their ice block on one side, shielding himself and the others from the narwhals' horns while also pushing them back towards land. However, the force of the narwhals was so strong that the ice block slammed harshly against the frozen land, knocking the herd off and having them slide across the surface.

As they slid on the path of ice, Diego accidentally gets separated from the group due to hitting an obstacle in his way; this also caused Granny to get knocked off his back but she still managed to keep sliding forward with the group.

And lucky for them, the icy path led to a ramp that conveniently launched Granny, Manny, and Sid into the air and onto the ship. Granny landed somehow without a scratch while Manny had more of a rough landing, with Sid being the last one to end up on his back.

"You guys okay?" Redwood limped over to them as Manny got back up like it was nothing. The human girl then noticed that someone was missing and looked panicked. "Where's Diego?"

"Found him!" Coral pointed at another pathway where Diego was running from. "Hey Saber! Move your tail!" She called out to him.

Manny looked between her and Redwood, clearly wanting to know why the heck was she with them. But all Redwood could give was a confused shrug as a response. "My guess is as good as yours", she told him.

Diego heard Coral and was skeptical about this too, but the pirates were directly on his trail, so he had no choice but to go along with this. He runs as fast as he can toward the ship while Coral, Manny, and Redwood call out to him to go faster. But as he gets close, Shira manages to catch up with him and tackle him; pinning him to the ground like she did before.

"No!" Redwood gasps.

"Dang it, Shira!" Coral scowls. "Let him go!"

Trying to buy him more time, Manny grabs a log and sticks it into a wall to slow the ship down. Redwood wanted to rush over and help Diego, but the wound on her leg was preventing her from doing so. She fell over while trying to move and Coral had to catch her. The redheaded pirate then looked back at the sabers and mumbled to herself. "Come on, Shira. You know what you need to do". Coral knew that if Shira could let her get away despite the risk, then she could do the same for Diego.

"Why are you doing this?" Diego questioned.

"You don't understand! I don't have a choice!" Shira protested.

"You don't have to live this way, Shira. You'll be safe with us. We take care of each other". Diego tried to reason with her. He knew that she didn't wanna do this and he wanted to give her a chance to turn things around. She didn't need to live this life. She could become a better person and even live better than this. And he thinks he knows how to help.

"Diego! I can't hold on much longer". Manny shouts. Just then, the log snaps in half and the ship begins to move again. "Diego!"

Shira lets Diego get up while he continues to negotiate with her. "Come with us... Come with me".

The female saber is internally struggling to think this over. She has had her doubts, especially with Coral leaving and the aftermath of how Gutt took it when she explained her failure to take down Manny. Even then, she was scared for how things might be after this is all over. She takes a moment to look between Diego and the ship, where her eyes eventually land on Coral, who is helping Redwood stand up while they both watch what's happening.

It takes this moment for Shira to see that if Coral was able to make the choice to leave despite the risk, she can do the same too. Besides, she'll be having a fresh start with a herd that actually treats each other like family. Anything is better than the life she's been living until now.

So, even with all her hesitation, she nods at Diego, taking his offer to join him.

The two tigers then begin to run for the ship. It was very close to leaving them behind, but Diego was sure that they'd be able to make it if they jumped over the ledge. Meanwhile, Shira looked behind them and saw Gutt approaching fast. Knowing that he'll probably be able to catch up to them, Shira made a split-second decision that she hoped would work.

As Diego leaps over the ledge and lands onto the ship, Shira turns around the corner instead of following him.

"What are you doing?" Diego asked.

"I've got your back". Shira pushes blocks of ice in Gutt's path as he runs, making him slip and launch himself off the ledge. He tries to grab onto the ship, but misses his grip and falls, hitting his back on the ice below and cracking it.

Diego scowls at him before looking back up at Shira, who gives him a reassuring smile. The female saber even calls out to Coral and gives her a respectful nod, which Coral was slightly surprised about, but still returns the gesture, albeit more upsettingly.

Diego then looks up and sees the hyraxes on their gliders land on small blocks of ice of their own. The blocks were all held together neatly with vines by non other than Rocky, who stood on a bigger ice block while pulling the hyraxes near him as they sailed off in another direction around the island.

The lead hyrax with facepaint blows a raspberry at Gutt then mocks him by acting like a monkey, which causes Gutt to growl.

Manny and Redwood salute at the pirate captain while Granny uses Sid's arm to wave goodbye. "So long, banana breath. Thanks for the ship!" She said.

"Yeah! Suck it, monkey man! I'm free now!" Coral gives Gutt a not-so-friendly gesture while shouting at him. It was also now where Gutt finally saw Coral with the herd, shocked to see she was not only alive, but has practically betrayed him to join Manny and the others.

The ship eventually sails far from the island, with the herd believing that they're now home-free. Unfortunately, that couldn't have been any more wrong. As Gutt looks over to a wall of ice with a crack in it and takes this opportunity to get in between and starts pushing it down with all his strength. A huge chunk of the ice wall eventually falls into the ocean, along with Gutt grabbing onto it.

His crew watch from the sidelines and look into the water, feeling concerned. "Oh, no, he's gone forever!" Flynn exclaims. Suddenly, the wall of ice shoots upwards out of the water with Gutt clinging to the tip of it. "Oh! There he is". Flynn smiles. The ice leans forward and stabilizes, becoming a brand-new ship for the pirates to use.

"Shore leave is over. Get your sorry carcasses on board now!" Gutt demands.

The crew whimpers and groans as they obey and quickly get on. Gutt then whistles for the narwhals and they hook onto the back of the ship, becoming the engines and moving it forward.

Afterwards, Shira steps forward as Gutt jumps in front of her, knowing that she's definitely in trouble for lying about Coral, betraying Gutt, and sabotaging him just now. "Gutt, I can explain..."

He doesn't let and instead grabs Shira by the throat. "When this ends... I'll have a tiger's skin hanging on my wall". He squeezes her throat harder. "I don't care whose". He then throws Shira harshly onto the ground while the rest of his crew looks on with mixed emotions. "That mammoth has taken my ship, my bounty, and now the loyalty of my crew. I will destroy him... and everything he loves".

Gutt walks to the front of the ship and it continues to move. He already knows that the herd are making their way back to the continent, so he's just gonna have to take a detour there. And he knows why they're heading back there... so he might as well plan a little surprise for Manny in particular once they arrive...

Chapter Text

Things were going somewhat decently back with Ellie and the other animals as they continued their journey to the Land Bridge. The moving wall was seemingly starting to pick up speed and catch up with them, but not enough to where people would panic about it. They were still anxious enough to be cautious, but short breaks would've been okay to take at this time.

Which is what some of the animals decided to do. Starting with Crash and Eddie, who were both on the top of two trees while waiting for the wall to get closer.

"Wait for it... Wait for it!" Eddie said excitedly.

Once the wall reached them, it knocked over the trees and sent the possums falling along with them. They ended up faceplanting next to Louis, who was startled by their sudden landing. After a slight pause, Crash and Eddie get back up while laughing and high-fiving each other like they just got off a fun ride and didn't just injure themselves.

"That was awesome!"

Feeling a little concerned about the fact that their positive mood doesn't match the current situation, Louis tries to understand the brothers and gives them a few questions as they continue walking. "Can I ask you guys something? How are you both so happy? Doesn't it weigh on you that the world might be ending?"

"Can I tell him our secret?" Crash turns to Eddie for permission and he reacts with a nod. "Come here. Come here". He whispers to Louis. "We're very... very... stupid".

Louis gives a confused look as if he was expecting something else. Were these guys actually serious? Sure, it explains so much about them, and it was fairly obvious to everyone that the possums weren't the brightest creatures around. But there had to be some sort of common sense in their minds that told them things were dire.

After all, they're POSSUMS! One of the most timid and spinless animals on the planet... aside from Louis himself. They couldn't be that stupid enough to be able to ignore what's literally in their DNA... could they?

"But, still, you're not a teensy bit concerned about... I don't know, say, imminent death?" Louis asks.

Rather than give him a proper response, Crash just honks the molehog's nose. "Beep".

Clearly, interacting with these two was useless and would get annoying real fast if this was how they were gonna act. So, wanting to save his energy for someone who actually deserves it, Louis sighs and decides to leave. "I'm going to go find Peaches".

He was genuinely confused by how Crash & Eddie were supposed to be the uncles of Peaches and Redwood. At least the girls weren't stupid enough to make bad choices or ignore danger... or so he thought.

What he didn't know was where Peaches was at the moment. And more importantly, who she was with.

*Meanwhile*

Peaches kept her word and never told Louis that was was spending the day with Ethan and his friends. In her mind, the plan she had was simple and would go smoothly. Though she did feel a bit guilty for not being honest with her friend, she didn't wanna have to turn down what she believed to be the only opportunity to redeem herself; proving to both Ethan and his friends that she's as cool as them. Especially after everything that happened back at the falls with her dad.

And besides, what Louis doesn't know won't hurt him, right?

"Guys, over here! Come on, it's a shortcut!" Ethan calls out to the group as he leads them into a cave that splits from the main path and goes slightly underground. "You're going to love this."

"Come on, girls, let's have some fun!" Steffie urges the others.

When Peaches caught up to them, she got a good look at the cave and was astounded by how weird yet fascinating it was. The trees were growing on every surface, from the ground to the walls to the ceiling; it was pretty bizarre but still cool. Almost like reality bended a bit to make it happen.

"Wow! This is so cool!" Peaches exclaims in amazement.

"It's like we're upside down". Katie comments.

"That is amazing". Steffie agrees.

Peaches decides to have some fun with it and yells to hear her voice echo throughout the cave. "Echo!" Ethan laughs at her antics and the others actually seem to like Peaches' company. This hangout was really fixing up how they saw her before and she couldn't be any more glad.

Unbeknownst to the group however, Peaches' echo went through some cracks in the cave's wall and was heard on the main path where the other animals continued to walk. Though they didn't seem to care or even bother with what they heard, Louis did end up hearing and acknowledging it. He was looking for Peaches right before the echo caught his attention and now he knows where she is. Though he does wonder what she's doing off the main path again.

Back with teenage mammoths, even though they were warming up to Peaches better than before, they still had to make sure of a couple of things before they officially made her part of the group. For starters, her relationship with her best friend and her sister.

"Too bad your human sister and molehog friend aren't here, huh?" Steffie asks in a sassy tone.

"You're not really friends with them, are you?" Ethan adds.

"Yeah, come clean, Peaches." Katie joins in. "You aren't actually cool with the human, right?"

"And are you friends with that awkward little rodent or not?" Steffie gives the last question.

Peaches a taken aback by this but tried not to show it. Of course, she's friends with Louis and cares about Redwood. But stating that won't help her in this context. She's this close to fully getting in good with the group, and saying the truth would mess it up. So she did the only she thought she could do. Lie.

"Pfft. Of course Redwood and I aren't cool. She's lame and we don't have much in common anyway. Besides, she... isn't even my real sister. I only hang around with her because dad makes me". She tried making herself sound convincing, and it was working. "And... Louis & I, we've hung out or whatever. But, no, we're not really friends-friends".

It sucked having to talk about Redwood and Louis like this, even if it was a lie. But on the brighter side, they weren't here to hear it, so it should be fine. Besides, maybe they would understand if they did. After all, Peaches didn't really mean all of this.

"Not friends?"

However, it didn't seem like it to Louis, who was in a hole that he dug when he tried to find her in the cave. But it seemed like he found her at a stupidly bad time.

Peaches gasped in fear when she saw him. "Louis! I...", She didn't know how to explain herself.

"Busted~". Steffie said dramatically as Louis gave the most heartbroken expression ever.

Peaches desperately wanted to tell him that she was lying to the others and that they were still friends, but then she would have Ethan and his group lose the respect she was just trying to get back. So instead, she stood quiet against her better judgment and hoped Louis would understand.

Unfortunately, he didn't. Or maybe he did, but it still didn't make what he heard any less painful. "Good to know". He ducks back underground and digs away as fast as he can.

"Louis, wait!" Peaches calls out to him.

He ends up bumping his head under a rock but keeps going, causing the other teen mammoths to laugh at his pathetic retreat.

"He even runs away like a loser". Steffie smirks.

Ethan notices the saddened look on Peaches' face because of what she did. Though his attempt to make her feel better wasn't that comforting and still made her feel regretful. "Whoa, Peaches, don't stress. You're with us now".

"Yeah, stress is so... stressful". Katie tells her as she places a flower in her hair.

"Yeah, girl, if you're going to stress about something, stress about your hair". Steffie adds.

The group ventures deeper into the cave while conversing, except for Peaches. Before she could decide to follow them, she turned back just in time to see the moving wall had now reached the cave's entrance, closing in while blocking it off.

She then sees that a breeze was beginning to flow through the cave, but it was growing stronger the darker it got. Possibly due to how the wall was covering up the other holes in the cave and cutting off ventilation.

"Guys, we should get out of here!" Peaches says in concern.

"Are you kidding?! This is epic!" Ethan's friend, Buddy exclaims.

Everyone turns back once they noticed how dark it got, and that was definitely the first right decision they'd made at this point; A huge smoke storm was suddenly rushing towards them, forcing the group to run to the end of the cave to escape.

"Go! Go! Go!" Peaches yelled as she ran with them.

They make it out in time and use the sides of the cave's exit to avoid getting hit by the smoke storm. Peaches was panting heavily from running, as well as the stress she just experienced. She turns to the rest of the group once the smoke clears up, but then sees that instead of feeling fearful or even anxious about what just happened, they were cheering and acting like they just got off a roller coaster.

"Yeah! How sick was that?" Buddy asked the group.

"Yo, that was insane". Ethan laughs. He then calls out to Peaches, who he realizes was just in a panicked state. But to him and the others, she was overreacting. "Hey, Peach, loosen up! Have some fun!"

"Fun?! You call that fun? I'm out of here!" Peaches angrily stomps away, feeling annoyed about how their lives were almost over but the group was brushing it off. There's having excitement in your lives, and then there's being stupid. And she didn't wanna have anything to do with it. She even tosses the flower out of her hair.

"Come on, do you really want to go back to hanging with a weird molehog fra-reak and give all of this up?" Steffie asks her.

"I mean, it's bad enough that your family is half possum and your sister is a--"

That was the last straw for Peaches, as she cuts Ethan off and decides to do what she should've done before. Call him out and defend her loved ones. "Bad enough?! There is nothing bad about being part of my family! I like hanging by my tail & my sister is one of the coolest people I know! And if you geniuses are normal, this species is going to end up extinct!" She finally leaves and doesn't turn back, even when the group tries to get the final word.

"Yeah, well, your species is going to be extinct first". Katie says.

"Oh ho! Burn!" Buddy comments, thinking they're being clever.

Ethan sighs at his friends' stupidity. "We're the same species, genius".

"Whaaaaat? Double burn".

*Back with Manny & the Others*

It's practically midnight already as the herd sails their way back home. Though the journey was still pretty long, it was a lot smoother now that they had the ship. It was more stable than the ice blocks they had ridden on before, and they even had food to hold them down just in case someone got hungry. Currently, Coral was patching up Redwood's stab wound on her leg while the herd, (except for Sid), was wandering around the ship. Manny was navigating where they were being steered while Diego seemed lost in thought.

The only issue at the moment however, were 2 people in particular.

Sid was still paralyzed from the berry he ate and all anyone could do for him right now was just to wait out the effects until he was able to move again. This wouldn't seem so bad if Sid's situation was the only problem.

Another issue was Coral. Nobody expected her to be with them again, especially after everything that just happened with her and the pirates. But, for some reason, she willingly wanted to help them now. It was a very quick turn-around for her character and no one was convinced that she could truly be trusted...

No one but Redwood that is.

Admittedly, she was very skeptical about this as well. But she forced herself to come around to it. After all, Coral did save her life when she could've left her to die; by Squint's hand no less. But she didn't. She got her onto the ship in time and even openly flipped Gutt off.

Dare she say, it took "guts" to be able to betray someone that she not only worked for, but was also considered threatening by his own crew and dangerous to everyone else.

However, what made her turn-around not fully convincing to the others was that Coral didn't have a proper reason for doing so. When she was asked by Manny why she did what she did, she tried avoiding the question as best she could and just narrowed her response down to "because I wanted to", which made even less sense than actual silence. This caused Manny to tell her that the herd was gonna be cautious around her and she shouldn't try anything, to which Coral begrudgingly accepted it.

The redheaded human finishes wrapping up Redwood's leg and tries to help her stand. "There. Don't lean on it too much, otherwise the pain is gonna suck". Redwood stands straight but hisses as the pain causes her to lean her weight against Coral. "Told ya". She says.

"Okay, so running is gonna be a problem for the time being. But at least I'm alive", Redwood tries to make light of the situation. "By the way, thanks for saving my skin back there. I don't get why you did it. But I still appreciate it. Guess a sea rat like you actually does have a heart".

Coral smirks and shakes her head. "Don't get mushy on me. I did what I could".

"And yet we don't understand why", Manny butts into the conversation.

Coral glares at him. "Okay, I get it at this point! You have trust issues! I'm a bad guy! Yadda yadda yadda!"

"Don't take that tone with me!" Manny replies.

"I'm not your kid. And even if I was, you need to learn how to trust people better", Coral crosses her arms.

"I do trust people. It's just that I trust my family more than you".

"Really? Well, that's a low bar, because back on that island, you didn't seem to trust Redwood enough to be talking with another human! I get you're her... caretaker?"

"He's my dad", Redwood corrects her.

"Well, that's worse", Coral continues. "How can you expect her to get better at stuff if you can't trust her to deal with it herself? Oh! She'll get hurt? Big whoop! That's the learning experience for ya! Besides, are you really expecting yourself to shelter her forever? I don't think so! So either fix your trust issues or buzz off before you ruin things!"

Coral walks away to the back of the ship while Manny and Redwood share a look. Redwood sighs, not knowing what to say nor wanting to say anything about this. Instead, she just sat on some ice and tried to look neutral while looking over her bandaged leg.

Meanwhile, Manny maintains a straight face and doesn't seem like he let what Coral said get to him. But in reality, he couldn't deny she was sorta right. I mean, it wasn't her place to tell him how to parent Redwood, let alone judge him for having trust issues for understandable reasons. He just wants to protect his kids and keep them safe. After what happened to his previous family, he couldn't bear it if something were to happen to Redwood and Peaches.

But then again, Coral had a point. He's not gonna be around to protect his girls forever, no matter how hard he tries. Redwood literary has an injury on her leg and he couldn't stop it. But even then, she's trying to deal with it for herself right now. Just like how she tried dealing with taking care of Peaches. And just like how Peaches is trying to deal with her life by proving herself. 

Manny has a lot to think about with this stuff. He may have good intentions, but his actions really need to be workshopped.

Suddenly, his thoughts get interrupted when he and the others start to hear a much clearer voice from their sloth friend.

"Oh, hey, I can wiggle my toe again! The important one. The little piggy who went to market. Wait! I'm-I'm talking again!" The effects of the berry finally wore off for Sid and he started to flop around and fix the position of his body as he was now able to move again. "Oh, I had so many things trapped inside of me that I couldn't say. Like, hey, I'm not dead!" After readjusting his eye, he started to ramble about nonsensical stuff. "And why does a hurricane have an eye but not an ear? Did you know Redwood's birthday is tonight? And what about--".

"Huh?" Redwood turns her head in confusion. "What about me?"

"Your birthday is tonight. Happy birthday, kid! Also why do males..." Sid goes back to rambling but not without giving a moment of his time to wish Redwood a happy birthday.

Redwood's expression shifts as she realizes that she forgot her own birthday amongst the chaos the herd has been experiencing for the last few days. She was honestly surprised that Sid still remembered it in spite of their situation, but that just made her appreciate it a lot more.

"Huh. They still keep tabs on your birthday?" Coral came back from the back of the ship and sat next to her.

"I... guess so". Redwood grins. "It just seems impressive at this point. You know, considering I age a lot slower than they do because... well, human. I assumed they'd forget at some point, or just stop caring to count. I know I did".

Coral frowns at this before turning to look at the rest of the herd around the ship. She then turns back to Redwood and awkwardly puts her hand on her shoulder in an attempt to act comforting. "Look, it's just been a wild ride for you all. It makes perfect sense you wouldn't have that be the main thing in the back of your mind. But maybe when you guys get back home, you'll be able to celebrate it properly. Besides, with everything I've seen, you could use a break".

"Thanks... sea rat", Redwood chuckles as Coral playfully shoves her for the nickname.

Afterwards, the two girls both look back up to notice that Sid was still rambling on about nonsense. It was apparently going on for longer than what people wanted and Granny was the most annoyed by his voice at this point. "I'll push him overboard. You guys say it was an accident". She tells Manny.

"I'm in. How about you, Diego?" Manny sees Diego wandering around while lost in thought and tries to get his attention. "Diego? Hey, relax, buddy! Captain Crazy and his floating petting zoo are history. Come on! We're finally heading home!"

Diego didn't seem too thrilled about it. Not because he didn't want to return back home, but because he was worried about something... or someone. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I can't eat, can't sleep. Maybe I'm coming down with something".

Manny chuckles, knowing exactly what's running through his friend's mind. "I know what you've got. The L word".

"Yeah, leprosy". Sid says.

"No, Sid, no. It's four letters. Starts with L, ends with E." Manny tells him.

"Ah ha! Lice!" Sid guesses.

"No! Diego, my friend, is in love".

"Oh, yeah! Love~"

"You mean with the pirate? ...No", Diego denies it.

"Oh, Shira's gotten under your skin. Come on, admit it". Sid smirks as he and Manny tease the saber.

"A rugged saber like you".

"A more rugged saber like her".

"No, no, no. You guys are dead wrong!" Feeling annoyed, Diego goes to the front of the ship to be alone.

Unfortunately for him, Manny and Sid end up bursting out into laughter and high-fiving each other while still trying to push his buttons. "Denial is the clincher! You're in love, pussycat!" Manny calls out to him.

Coral rolls her eyes as she watches the interaction from the sidelines. "Can you believe these idiots? What are they? Teenagers?" She looks next to her for a response, only to find the spot empty. "Redwood?" Coral stood up and saw that Redwood had somehow moved to join in on Manny and Sid's teasing, leaning on her spear like a cane as she started singing at Diego's expense.

"♫Diego and Shira, sitting in a tree...♫"

Immediately after, Manny and Sid sing along with her. "♫K-I-S-S-I-N-G♫"

Coral shakes her head and sighs. "Real mature, guys. Real mature".

As for Diego, he was completely ignoring the herd's teasing at the moment. Sitting at the front of the ship, he couldn't help but sulk about what happened before. He really wished that Shira could've taken the chance to come with the herd instead of staying behind. Though the act she did was noble, it also took away the possibility of him seeing her again. And Diego was... upset about it. Like he actually misses her.

Sure, they definitely had a rough start, but Shira demonstrated herself to be a lot more than just a double-crossing pirate, and he found it pretty cool... maybe even attractive. If only he could've seen more of that.

Huh. So maybe the others weren't wrong about him being in love with her.

The revelation made a small smile appear on Diego's face. He didn't see this coming for himself but he was okay with accepting it. He just didn't want to admit it to the others because there's no way they'd let him live it down. Heck, they already got a headstart in that.

Suddenly, Diego was taken out of his thoughts when he heard a voice in the distance.

"Diego..."

The Saber perks up and looks around in front of the ship, but is only able to see fog clouding up everything in their path.

"Diego~".

He stands up and squints as he sees a silhouette of a familiar figure slowly emerge. Upon closer inspection, the figure turns out to be standing on a stone platform and is revealed to be...

"Shira?" Diego stares in confusion. How could she be here if she was...?

"I wanted to come with you~".

Shira's voice ends up putting him into a lovestruck trance, causing him to purr and locking out any ounce of common sense he could've had.

Just then, Sid walks up to the front of the ship and stands next to Diego. He looked like he was in a similar trance as well. "She's beautiful".

Unlike Diego however, Sid was seeing a completely different individual. In his eyes, he was being spoken to by a pretty sloth lady. "Sid~. I adore a sloth who cares nothing about personal hygiene~".

"That's me, baby", he responds.

Granny is next to join the two as she ends up seeing a hunky sloth with long hair and a trident in her point of view. "Granny. Come to me, Granny~". He grunts before making a mostache grow on his face.

"Well, hello". Granny says, sounding very interested.

"The wrinklier the raisin, the sweeter the fruit~", The hunky sloth flirts with her.

"Granny likey! Granny likey very much", She responds, clearly smitten.

Up next was Redwood, who was limping around the ship, still trying to get the hang of walking with an injured leg. She stops when she reaches the front of the ship and looks to her left to see the trio stuck in their trance. Out of curiosity and confusion, she looks ahead to try to see what they're looking at. But for her, what she saw made her jaw drop and eyes widen.

"Redwood! There you are! Oh, we finally found you!"

The poor girl rubbed her eyes as she began tearing up at the sight of her parents being alive and well... or at least seeing part of them alive and well. The fog was still covering up their faces, but there was no doubt they were there.

"Mom? Dad? But Avery said you were... I can't believe this..." The human had no idea what to say. She was just overwhelmed with emotions and couldn't stop tears from escaping her eyes.

Meanwhile Coral, who was currently sharpening her sword, looks up to see the 4 herd members staring at silhouettes in the fog. "The heck?" She squints as she's about to get a closer look, but the second she steps forward, she freezes in fear. From her perspective, she sees the shadow of a female human mermaid start to appear, and it was trying to call out to her in a flirty manner.

As quickly as she could, she shut her eyes and plugged her ears with her fingers, dropping her sword in the process. "Not today! Not today! Not today!" She then looks back up and tries shouting to the group in the front. "Red! Cover your ears! NOW! Everyone! Cover your ears!"

Unfortunately, Manny is the only one who hears her yelling and looks between her and the group, who don't even acknowledge her. "Guys, aren't you paying... a-attention?" Manny's own attention gets dragged towards the fog as well.

"Manny~ Manny, are you there~?"

Manny hears the sound of Ellie's voice echoing and looks over to see her and Peaches together on another stone platform. "Ellie?"

"We're over here, Manny~". Ellie calls out to him.

"This way, Daddy. I really need you".

"I know, honey. Stay there!" Falling for the illusion, Manny tugs on the branch that steers the ship and changes its direction to aim it towards the figures he and the other see. "I'm coming!"

Coral witnesses this and freaks out. "What are you doing?!" Looking around frantically, she spots some leaves and rushes to grab some to shove in her ears. It was uncomfortable but it was enough to muffle any noise around her. Coral then runs and tries to grab the steering branch to turn the ship around. Unfortunately, she gets stopped by Manny, who uses his trunk to lift her up and suspend her above the ground.

"Put me down! I'm trying to save us!" Coral struggles to move.

Manny glares at her. "You've been enough trouble for one trip! And you're not gonna stop us from going home!"

The two fight for a bit as Coral tries to free herself from Manny's grip, but he's too strong for her. And as this happens, Ellie decides to speak to Manny again. "You were right, Manny. You're always right".

"No, look, I was... Wait a minute. Ellie would never say that". Manny points out. This little flaw thankfully was enough to break the trance and show him what he was really seeing. Looking back at his 'family', Ellie and Peaches suddenly begin to flicker, briefly revealing two sirens as their voices get more distorted and their appearance becomes more unsettling.

The shock of the situation causes Manny to roughly drop Coral back down. She quickly recovers and gets back up to shout at him. "They're not real! Cover your ears! Trust me! They can't get to you that way!"

"They're monsters?" He questions.

"They're sirens! Don't listen to them!" She responds.

Manny immediately stuffs some leaves into his ears and starts to sing out loud. "♫Who can take the sunrise! Sprinkle it with dew!♫"

No longer being able to hear, Manny is finally able to see the sirens in their true form. They hiss in anger due to no longer being able to enchant him.

This allows Coral to go back to try and turn the ship away but it's too late. The ship ends up hitting a bunch of spikes coming out of the stones that the other sirens rest on. They scrape against the sides, digging into the ice and making it harder to change course.

Now realizing the serious danger they were in, Manny tries to get the others' attention. "No! They may look real, but they're not! They're going to destroy the ship!" But similar with Coral, nobody was paying attention since they were all too caught up in their trance to be able to break away.

"Come on, tiger. Swim with me~".

Diego kept on purring lovingly at the fake Shira Siren, who was continuing to make flirty statements. The same went for the female sloth Siren that Sid was seeing.

"Sid~. I have a snack for you~". The female sloth gagged before throwing up some berries in her hand.

"And she cooks, too". Weirdly finding this attractive, Sid leans forward with his eyes closed to kiss the siren.

"Sid, no!" Manny yells, but still to no avail.

Coral then rushes back to the steering branch and tries pulling it, but the spikes scraping against the ship was making it difficult. She then grabs a stick from the ground and throws it at Manny to get him to look at her. "Help me turn this thing around!" She tells him, forgetting that he technically couldn't hear her.

Thankfully, he didn't need to in order to get the message. He grabs onto the steering branch with his trunk and the two work together to steer the ship away from the sirens. The struggle against the spikes holding the ship in place caused it to shake violently, making Diego, Sid, Redwood and Granny fall backwards and away from the Sirens. But while Granny landed somewhat normally, Diego and Sid's landing made them fall on top of each other and unknowingly caused them to kiss. As for Redwood, her fall made her land harshly on her leg, which reopened her wound and forced her to stay down.

Manny and Coral continue using their strength to steer the ship until they finally manage to free themselves from the spikes and safely shift away from the Sirens, who all growl and roar in anger over the fact that their prey has escaped them.

Now being unable to hear the sirens properly, the other herd members break out of their trance and return to normal. Which turns out to be bad timing for Sid and Diego, who awkwardly pull away from each others lips once they noticed the position they were in. "Why are we kissing?" Diego asks.

"Um... 'cause cruises are romantic?" Sid responds, quickly recovering from the awkwardness.

Manny and Coral let go of the steering branch as they look back at the Sirens. They both sigh in relief while removing the leaves from their ears, knowing that it's now safe to hear again. "Whew. Five more seconds and we'd have been goners". Manny says.

"You're telling me!" Coral exclaims. "Note to self; steer clear of this part of the ocean from now on".

Just then, Sid runs past the two and flirtily makes a phone gesture at the Sirens. "Call me". His request causes them to recoil in disgust, making them regret ever trying to lure him in right before they leave to find another victim.

Meanwhile, Coral pinches her nose in irritation and decides to walk away. But before she can, she gets stopped by Manny's trunk on her shoulder. "Hey... thanks. For trying to help". He tells her, albeit hesitantly.

"Is that sarcasm?" She turns to him in confusion.

"No. I mean it", Manny responds.

"You're welcome then... I guess", Coral says, not sure how to process getting thanked by someone she was just arguing with before.

Almost right after, Redwood's groans could be heard as she sits on the ground, holding her leg close to her while in pain. Coral spots this and rushes over, kneeling down to see that her wound has reopened under the bandages and small drops of blood were seeping out. The pirate girl calmly removes the bandages and tries to re-patch the wound again.

All the while, Redwood was in a state of confusion over the event that just took place. "What just happened?"

"Sirens happened", Coral tells her.

"What?" Diego asks, walking towards the girls.

"I've encountered a few of them when Gutt forced me to steer the ship while he and the crew slept. Thankfully, I know their tricks". Coral explains. "They're a bunch of gross water freaks that lure their prey in with illusions of people they think you would care about. All just so they can tear you to shreds if you get close enough. And you guys were in a trance, basically seeing what I assume were either past loved ones or ideal loved ones".

Hearing this made Diego understand the situation better, and he's glad that they were able to survive the Sirens in time, thanks to Manny and Coral. But Redwood seemed to be only focused on the part where Coral said that they take the shape of past or ideal loved ones. "Oh... so those weren't my... so they are actually...", she took some shaky breaths while trying to hold back tears.

After fixing up her leg once again, Coral sees Redwood trying to prevent herself from breaking down. Diego sees this too and looks at her in concern. "You okay, kid?"

Not wanting to make a scene, Redwood laches herself onto Coral and hugs her while burying her face into her shoulder, hiding her expression from Diego and anyone else who might be looking at her. Coral didn't know what to do with this sudden embrace at first, but chose to slowly go with it; placing her hand on Redwood's back and trying to comfort her with pats.

Diego was also surprised by Redwood's action but decided that she might need this if what the Sirens showed her was actually triggering. He even lays himself next to her just in case she needs him there as well.

All that was left was Manny, Sid, and Granny watching from the side of the ship, and soon even Sid eventually joined in the help with comfort, (though he believed Redwood's sadness was due to her birthday being forgotten).

Manny feels a little upset about how all of this has went down for everyone since they were separated from their home and especially their family. But one thing was for certain; when everything is said and done and they finally make it back to their homeland, he and the others are gonna reunite with Ellie and Peaches, and give Redwood the day she needs. After all, they've already made it past a ton of terrible stuff on this adventure, so there's no way things could possibly get worse.

Chapter Text

The next morning is hit with stress levels going down after the... weirdness of the previous night. (Nobody wants to talk about it at the moment for obvious reasons). At first, there wasn't too much for the morning other than Manny and Coral navigating the ship together, along with Diego and Sid looking out for suspicious activity or any indication that they were close to their home.

Then there was Granny...

"Here, girl. Here, Precious!"

At some point, she suddenly began throwing the fruit they had into the water behind them, calling out for her fake pet, Precious. It became a problem due to how she was practically wasting their only food supply over a figure of her imagination. Even though the herd didn't know how far they were from their destination, they didn't wanna starve before they got there.

Manny and Coral constantly took turns taking the food away from Granny, but she got them back soon after. Sid and Diego mostly saw this as funny and didn't really do much to help, other than comment on the issue.

"She thinks she finally found her pet", Sid jokes with Diego.

"Good girl. Here you go". Before Granny could toss another one in, Manny comes up behind her and takes away the stack of fruit.

"Look, Granny, can't you throw imaginary food to your imaginary pet?" Manny complains. However, Granny just smirks at him and throws another one in, making him groan in annoyance as he walks off. "Enough already! We need to keep a lookout for home".

Granny ignores his worries and speaks to the water again. "Ignore them, Precious. I do".

Unbeknownst to the others, the food that she threw into the water was being pulled under, one by one. Almost as if something really was eating them. She smiled at the sight of this and turned back to get the rest of the food yet again.

"You can't take your eyes off her for one minute", Manny tells Sid, Diego & Coral.

"Nope, it's like having a child", Diego comments just as the group looks back to see Granny push the entire stack of fruit off the ship. "Only without any of the joy".

"Raising Redwood was a joy for you guys?" Coral joked.

"Well, there were ups and downs, but yeah, she's still our bundle of joy". Sid answered.

"That was a rhetorical... You know what? Never mind". Coral shook her head.

"And speaking of her...", Diego looks towards the side of the ship, where Redwood was sitting with her legs dangling off the edge, staring somberly into the distance.

"She's still there?" Manny asks.

"I don't even think she slept last night". Sid whispers to him. "Should one of us go talk to her? She might need it."

"I tried. She won't even look at me", Manny says.

Coral stares at Redwood with a sympathetic expression and steps away from the steering branch. "I'll go. I mean... I'm not good with comfort, but I can try. Just watch over the ship, and make sure we don't crash into anything... again".

The redheaded pirate makes her way towards Redwood and sits down next to her, though from the way she didn't bother acknowledging her and instead turned away, it was clear that Redwood wasn't in the mood for some company, at least not yet. 

There's a small amount of silence shared between them before Coral comes up with a conversation starter about how calming the breeze was. It took a few attempts at getting a reaction, but it thankfully wasn't too long before Redwood began responding to the topic.

From where Manny was standing, it seemed like Coral was trying to get Redwood to be more comfortable before asking her if she was okay. And to be honest, it seemed like it was working, albeit a bit slowly. But hey, progress is progress. It was just strange that it was coming from someone who kidnapped them about a few days ago.

"You know, the kid's not that bad". Diego says to Manny. "Aggressive, sure. And maybe a bit disrespectful. But she's trying to help, for the most part".

Manny nods in agreement. "I can see that".

"So you still think she's untrustworthy?"

"I don't know". Manny responds. "She's helped us for a day but I'm not giving her a gold medal for it".

"I get it. But you should at least tolerate her, especially if she decides to stay", Diego says. "She's the first human we've seen in a while and it would be good for Redwood to have another one of her own species around, don't you think?"

Manny stays silent but can't help but agree. His thoughts on Coral have been a mixed bag due to who and what she is. Just because she's been... helpful for a day doesn't mean he needs to instantly like her. Two out of the three days since they met her was more trouble than it was worth. And even then, they just had an argument last night about him having trust issues and judging his parenting.

But then again, she is trying to help out with them getting home and just saved their butts from a bunch of sirens. She can be aggressive and rude, but that might be a reaction from living so long with pirates. She's by all means not a bad person; she just needs to learn better. Plus she's currently comforting Redwood and actually getting her to open up, while with Manny, she didn't wanna say a word.

And speaking of which, Manny turns to look at the girls as he notices that their conversation has gotten more lively. They're laughing, and Redwood looks happier. Whatever Coral did to get her to open up apparently worked. It even seems like their relationship was improving without the need for anyone else to step in.

Manny takes a mental note of this for when they get back home. Maybe letting Peaches make connections outside the herd would be best for her as well, seeing how it's going for Redwood.

Sid gets a glimpse of Redwood and Coral hugging, reacting with a supportive yet excited smile. "You know something? Those two would make a cute couple", he tells Manny & Diego.

However, their response was not as positive as the sloth's. "What?!"

"Come on! I can't be the only one who sees it", Sid says, as if he believed it was obvious.

Welp, his words made Manny scrap that mental note. "You can't be serious".

"Oh, but I am, dear Manfred. And I shall name them, Coralwood! Or Redcoral! No! Corallium Rubrum! Now that one's pretentious!"

Diego frowns, and not just because of the ship names. "We're not naming anyone anything! Whatever happens with them, we'll leave it at that. Don't force something that might not be there".

"And if it is?" Sid asks.

"...Then maybe–"

Coral interrupts the conversation as she and Redwood join back up with the trio. "Look who's joining us again". She pats a nervous-looking Redwood on the back.

Being happy to move on from Sid's assumptions, Diego turns to Redwood with concerned look. "Hey, kid. You doing okay?"

"Yeah, kinda". She looks at Coral, who gives her a supporting nod, before looking back at the herd and sighing deeply. "Look, I'm sorry that I'm difficult to work with. Not just for now, but before. Like, way before this journey even started. I know I'm supposed to be more responsible, especially since Avery left. And I've basically been deadweight this whole time. But there's been so many thoughts in my head and last night really tipped me over the edge so--".

Sid notices Redwood starting to tear up and gently stops her ramblings with a comforting smile. "Hey, hey. It's okay. You don't need to be sorry for anything".

"But I–".

"We just want you to be okay". Manny steps in. "And I'm sorry for being too hard on you. Whatever you decide to do, even if it's on your own, I'll try my best to trust you better. The same goes for Peaches when we get home". He pats her head with his trunk and wipes a tear from her right eye before it could fall out, "By the way, happy birthday, Red".

Feeling a variety of emotions, both happy and sad, Redwood rushes to hug Manny, with Sid immediately joining and pulling Diego alongside him. Sid also reaches out for Coral to join, but she's very reluctant to do so.

"I don't do hugs!"

Sid smirks. "You were fine with them last night. Come on, get over here!" He tugs her towards them and she groans as she realizes she's trapped in a stupid family group hug. Her eyes rollto Diego as he shrugs.

"You'll get used to it. Believe me, it's more annoying if you resist".

Coral decides to take his word for it. Although, she eventually realizes that the hug isn't that bad. It's just... weird. Either because she's being hugged by animals or because she hasn't had physical contact this intense since... actually, she can't even remember.

"Hey, brain trust! Brace for impact!"

The herd disbands the hug as they hear Granny's voice and look to where she's pointing, just in time to see that they're about to crash into a wall of ice. They quickly run to the steering branch and both Manny and Coral pull it to the right before things could get worse. But just as they move, Manny recognizes a familiar island that's just a few miles ahead.

"Guys, look! We're almost home!" He exclaims happily.

"Buddy, I never doubted you". Diego smiles.

"Me either!" Sid agrees.

Redwood rolls her eyes at his words. "Really? Not a single shred of it?"

"Well, except for the six or seven times I thought we were going to die", Sid corrects himself.

"Uplifting, sloth. Very uplifting". Coral crosses her arms with sarcasm in her tone.

*Meanwhile*

Back at the mainland, things were seemingly starting to look up. After days of endless walking, the entrance to the land bridge was finally nearby and the animals were glad that the danger would finally be over soon once they cross.

However, among the crowd was a very guilt-ridden Peaches. While walking near her mother, she kept sneaking glances at Louis, who was walking over some rocks by himself and looking very depressed. He hasn't gotten over what Peaches said about them not being friends, to the point where he avoided her completely. And to be honest, she couldn't blame the little guy.

Peaches was searching for acceptance from a group of idiot mammoths who didn't really care about her unless she changed who she was and who she associated with. She felt stupid thinking these guys were "cool" at all, and that hanging out with them would be exciting enough to talk crap about her friend & sister. Bad enough that it almost costed her sense of self, but it was even worse that it costed the only real friendship she had. And she doesn't even know if she can fix it.

She sighed sadly over this issue, gaining Ellie's attention. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

"You ever say something you knew you couldn't take back?" Peaches asks, hoping she'll get advice.

"Is this about Louis?" Ellie takes a guess.

"I messed up so bad, Mom." Peaches confesses.

"It's okay. It happens. Cute boys can whiplash your brain. No doubt about that". Ellie chuckles, reminiscing about how she and Avery acted with the men they liked.

"But Ethan was the wrong guy".

"And you figured it out. You'll know what to say to Louis."

"And Redwood too..." Peaches looks down, thinking about how she's gonna try to explain herself and fix things between her and Louis. She also plans on telling Redwood about what she said, believing she should know that she spoke about her behind her back. The guilt would continue to eat her up otherwise. But she doesn't get a chance to think of a proper apology once she and Ellie notice a commotion at the entrance of the land bridge.  "What's going on?"

The two female mammoths make their way through the crowd, rushing to see what the issue was. But once they reached the front, their jaws dropped at the sight.

Where once was the bridge that could've saved everyone, was now completely destroyed, leaving giant pieces floating in the water and away from the mainland.

"The land bridge. It's gone." Ellie said, feeling distraught. She and Peaches then turn around to see the wall getting dangerously close. Being stranded with no other area to run to, they've quite literally reached a dead end.

"We're trapped!" A random Start yelled.

"But we were supposed to meet Dad and Red here. What are we going to do?" Peaches desperately asked. But as far as she and her mother were concerned, there was nothing to do.

*Back with the Herd*

Some fog appeared around the ship as the herd was closing in toward the mainland. It wasn't thick enough to block their vision, but Coral believed it would be safer to have someone go above to check out their surroundings. Sid volunteered for this and climbed to the top of the ship's mast, looking for anything suspicious.

Suddenly, the ship shakes harshly, to which Coral glares at Sid, believing he's not doing his job right. Diego and Redwood then go to the side of the ship and look over to see debris in the water. Chunks of land, trees, and ice float past them. This definitely wasn't a good sign.

Manny looks ahead as the fog slowly clears up and his eyes widen as he sees that the wall has knocked over the entrance to the now destroyed land bridge, completely demolishing the mainland and any trace of life on it.

"Ellie! Peaches!" Manny yells for his family. Everyone else regroups near him to see what's going on and they all feel as devastated as him.

"Oh, no. The land bridge," Coral says.

"But if it's gone... then how are we gonna...?"

"Sid!" Diego cuts Sid off.

But Manny refused to believe that his family was gone. "No, they have to be on the other side."

"Manny, there is no other side," Diego tells him.

"They have to be here". Manny ignores him and continues to call out for his family. "Ellie! Peaches! I'm here!" As to be expected, there was no response. "Please... she's got to be here."

Redwood begins tearing up and slightly shakes her head, quietly whispering to herself almost as if she too couldn't believe what just happened. "Not again... Not again..."

Meanwhile, Diego, Sid, Granny, and even Coral look down as they silently mourn the loss of the other half of their family. Ellie, Peaches, Crash & Eddie. They were the reason they fought so hard to get back home. Now they were gone and there was nothing that could be done about it.

Manny was the most affected by this. He lost his family once, and it just happened all over again. He didn't wanna believe it. But it was evident that nothing was left on the mainland and there was no way anybody could've been on the land bridge in time. It took a minute for Manny to come to terms with the truth and he also began silently mourning his wife and child.

If he could wish for anything right now, he would wish that he at least got to make things right with Peaches and apologize for being so overbearing. He only wanted to protect her, but instead, he let their last conversation together be of them fighting...

"Dad!"

Suddenly, Manny perks up as he hears a familiar voice in the distance. "Wait! Wait, did you hear that?"

Diego thinks it's the grief talking and tries to reason with his friend. "Manny..."

"No, I heard something! I heard it!" Manny exclaims. The herd looks in the direction where the voice came and sees a huge iceberg with a figure standing on it. Upon closer inspection, it became clear who it was.

Redwood rubs her eyes, wiping them dry and adjusting her vision. "Is that–?"

"Peaches? There she is!" Manny shouts happily.

"Dad!" Peaches calls out from the iceberg.

"We're coming, sweetie. Don't move!" Manny responds as he and Coral both turn the steering branch toward his daughter's direction.

"Daddy!"

"Peaches!"

Unfortunately, this sweet reunion was interrupted when another figure appeared behind Peaches with an evil laugh. The figure was none other than Captain Gutt himself, wrapping one arm around Peaches' neck and holding her hostage. "Welcome home, Daddy." He said smugly.

Peaches tried pulling away from the ape, but he was too strong, even for her. "Let go of me!"

Manny and the rest of the herd looked stunned to see him again. They thought they had finally gotten away from this guy, but turns out they were wrong.

"What are the odds? We were just talking about you". Gutt holds on to Peaches as he shows her father that he wasn't just on a normal iceberg. "You like the new ship? I call her Sweet Revenge."

Silas (the bird) flies by Manny and the others. "And look here. We've got the catch du jour." He reveals that they also had Ellie tied to a block of ice, struggling to break free as the pirates stand close by.

As for the other animals they were traveling with, they were all huddled together while stranded on a small platform behind the ship, watching the whole thing go down between Gutt's crew and the herd.

"Ellie!" Manny called out to his wife.

"I'm alright," Ellie reassures him just before Squint tightens the vines around her. However, despite her also being in danger, she's a lot more worried about Peaches than she is about herself. "Let my daughter go!" She demands, only to get a mocking laugh from Gutt as a response.

"Had to come back to ruin everything, didn't ya! Just when we thought we were past this... this... monkey business!" Coral exclaims in frustration.

Redwood shakes her head in disappointment. "Not one of your best quotes."

"Give me a break! I haven't slept for 3 nights!" Coral growls at her.

"And if it isn't our beloved Coral," Gutt acknowledges the redheaded human. "How could I forget the face of the traitor that abandoned us and left behind such a disrespectful gesture? And after we took you in and treated you like our own for years. Too bad someone else had to take the punishment for you."

Coral looks over to see what he means and notices Shira at the other side of the ship, weakly standing up and panting with a pained expression like she was recovering from something bad. Coral silently gasped, feeling horribly guilty for whatever Shira had to go through. Diego looked toward the female saber as well, looking just as upset and worried for her too.

"Now I suggest you listen to your captain and come back to us," Gutt ordered.

Coral's expression changes to an uneasy one. She really didn't wanna go back. And it seemed like Redwood didn't either, because she gripped onto Coral's arm as if she were about to be pulled away at any moment; which she sorta was.

"She's not going anywhere with you", Manny steps forward in defense. "I am. In exchange for my family being safe."

Coral's eyes widen at Manny's offer to Gutt.  "What?! What do you think you're doing?!"

"Manny! Don't!" Redwood exclaims, desperate not to lose anyone. "There has to be another way to handle this!"

"It's okay," He comforts the girls before glaring at Gutt. "He wants me. And he's going to get me."

"Sacrificing yourself for your family. How touching! How predictable..." Gutt takes his dagger and aims it at Peaches' face. "Now come and get them."

The crew throws hooks at the herd's ship, bringing it close enough to Gutt's so they could lay down a plank and bridge the gap between them. Manny walks across as the crew laughs maliciously and greets him.

"Good day, mate." Raz says.

"You remember us? We're the bad guys." Flynn was at least self-aware about where they stood in this predicament.

Manny stands in front of Gutt, fully surrendering himself. "All right, let them go."

Unfortunately, Gutt wasn't gonna make this too easy for him. He didn't release Peaches and just chuckled at Manny for thinking he was gonna hold up his end of the bargain. "I don't think so. You destroyed everything I had. I'm just returning the favor."

"No!" Just as Manny was about to charge at him, he was quickly wrapped with vines and tied up by Squint, being held in place like they did with Ellie.

"I warned you~" Gutt mocked.

"Manny!" Redwood tries running across the plank to help but gets pushed to the side by the warthog as soon as she boards Gutt's ship. She falls over and tries to get back up, only for Raz to aim a weapon at her face.

"Oi! Looks like another one has joined the party!" Raz says.

"Redwood!" Diego yells. As he and others were about to run after her, they were blocked by the rest of the crew from boarding the ship. This situation really couldn't get any worse.

"Stop!"

Everyone turns around to see Crash and Eddie tiptoeing away from the situation. They freeze in place and point behind them with nervous smiles, letting everyone know it wasn't them that spoke up.

It was Louis!

He stood at the end of Gutt's ship, breathing heavily out of anger. "Let the mammoths and the human go!" He spoke in a demanding tone; a little shaky, but he was doing his best to show no anxiousness or fear. Very different from how he'd normally act.

"Is that a... molehog?" Coral asked in disbelief.

"Weiner?" Manny looked just as confused as her.

Redwood did too. "Buddy?"

Gutt, on the other hand, found this to be humorous. "Uh oh. Who brought the muscle to the party?" He jokes.

"Louis, don't!" Peaches warns her friend, fearing for his safety.

Meanwhile, the other animals watch from their icy platform in suspense. "What's he doing? He's going to get himself killed." Ethan whispers to his friends.

"It's okay, I can handle him," Louis stood his ground.

"How cute, a hero! Let's see what bravery gets you". Gutt then gives orders to the badger. "Gupta, give the lad your weapon."

Gupta pulls out a knife (that looks a lot like Buck's) and smirks at Louis. "Nice knowing you, kid." He tosses it perfectly in front of the molehog, the point landing straight into the ice.

Louis goes to pull it out with one paw, but ends up struggling. He switches to using both paws but sadly, it still wasn't working out. He even smiles nervously before continuing to pull with as much strength as he could... which was barely any.

This display was embarrassing enough to have Gutt and his whole crew start laughing at him. Even Coral snickered a bit, earning herself a hit on the arm from Diego and a glare from Sid.

Louis does end up getting the knife out and aims it at Gutt and his crew, scowling like he seriously meant business.

"Let's dance, hero." Gutt sneers at him.

Louis tried to swing the knife, but the weight of it was a bit much for him to handle. Instead, he ends up losing his grip and accidentally chucks it into the air. Everyone's eyes were so focused on the knife that when it landed back onto the ice, Louis was nowhere to be seen.

Cracks then start forming under the ice from where he used to be until they reach Gutt. It's then where it's revealed that Louis had actually caused a distraction so he could get the sneak attack on Gutt, because when the cracks stopped, Louis had suddenly emerged from the ice with a chunk of it in his paws. He yells as he smashes it onto Gutt's foot, catching him off-gaurd with pain and forcing him to lose his grip, thus letting Peaches escape and run away from him.

Now that his daughter was no longer a hostage, Manny was able to break free from his restraints, ready to fight off the pirates. The same could be said for Redwood, who used her uninjured leg to kick the weapon out of Raz's hand when she was distracted. She then moved back and stood up with her spear out and positioned for battle.

Seeing how he was losing the upper hand, Gutt yelled at his crew to fight back. "Don't stand there like barnacles. Get them!"

The crew all draw their weapons and charge after their targets. Raz hops onto the ice Ellie's tied to and stops Manny in his tracks before he could get to her. "Oi, going somewhere, mate?" She throws some shark teeth tied to a vine at Manny, but he dodges her attack.

Sid and Granny both go to help by standing on a branch and swinging down on a vine from their ship to Gutt's. But they get stopped midway by Flynn blocking their path with his belly, to which Sid and Granny end up bouncing off of it.

As soon as they recover, Sid grabs Granny and runs away with her when he sees Flynn and Gupta starting to chase after them.

"Let me at him!" Granny yells as she's getting dragged away.

The two sloths keep going until they reach a dead end near the ledge of the ship. Sid goes to turn back but freezes when Flynn and Gupta corner them, weapon aimed and ready to strike. "Any last words?" Gupta grins wickedly.

Sid raises his fists in a boxing motion and squints his eyes, despite knowing full well that they have very little chance of fighting against them and winning. But he didn't know was that Granny had a trick up her sleeve for this moment.

"Precious!" She calls out.

Sid is (understandably) frustrated by this running gag at this point. "Will you stop with the Precious?" He tells her.

Suddenly, a giant figure emerges from the water, making Flynn and Gupta drop their weapons out of fear. "Mummy!" Flynn whimpers. Gupta jumps up on his head and the two run away, screaming for their lives.

Sid didn't really understand what happened there, but still took it as a win. "Well, I guess we showed them, huh?"

"Precious!" Granny smiled at the giant figure.

That's when Sid finally looked behind him and realized what the figure was. "That's your pet?!" He exclaims in shock.

The infamous pet, Precious, that Granny has been searching for this whole time turns out to have been a giant feaking whale! But thankfully, it didn't look hostile towards them. In fact, it was as happy to see Granny as she was to see it.

"Maybe that crazy old bat isn't that crazy after all". Sid comments about Granny.

He then gets jumpscared by Precious grabbing her with its tongue and putting her in its mouth, all the while she cackles like a weirdo.

"Nope, she's nuts." Sid retracts his statement.

"You waiting for a formal invitation, fancy pants? Get in." Granny shouts at her grandson.

"Ugh! I'm going to regret this!" Sid groans as he reluctantly walks into Precious' mouth before it sinks into the water, holding his breath and closing its jaws by the teeth.

*Back With The Others*

The rest of the herd was struggling to fight against the pirates due to being outnumbered and getting jumped by most of them.

"Bombs away!" Silas throws Gupta onto Manny's face to blind him, giving just enough time for the warhog to charge at him and knock him back onto the herd's ship.

As for Diego, he was being chased by Gutt and even climbed up the pole of their ship to get away from him. "Don't be a scaredy cat." Gutt laughed as he was catching up to him.

With Redwood, she did her best to avoid getting struck down by Raz, but it was a bit hard to do that without putting weight on her leg every time she had to move fast. Thankfully, Coral did end up joining in to help her and the two were starting to gain the upper hand. She steadied Redwood with one arm and they both tried aiming their weapons at the kangaroo.

"I can't believe! I ever considered! staying with you jerkwads!" Coral angrily spaced out her sentence every time their attacks got blocked. "No amount of bounty or chances of survival was worth the time I wasted being stuck here! This girl is the reason I finally set myself free", she gives a quick smile at Redwood before resuming the fight. "And I won't let any of you hurt her!"

At the corner of the ship, Shira overhears Coral's words, smiling proudly at seeing the redheaded human fight for something (or someone) she was learning to care about. Shira then looked between Coral, the rest of the pirates, the herd, and especially Diego, who was still trying his best to stay away from Gutt. Despite all that's happened since she last saw the saber, she knew that she'd rather get up and help out his family than stay on the sidelines and do nothing. She already knows the risks of doing this, but she's still willing to take them. After all, the ones she cared about needed her.

Back with Coral, she suddenly grabs Redwood by the hand and lifts her off the floor, swinging her around to kick Raz in the face with her uninjured leg. This move took Raz by surprise and ended up working (even Redwood was impressed she could do that), but then the girls got jumped by Flynn, who ended up knocking them off Gutt's ship and onto the herd's, landing right next to where Manny stood.

*With Sid & Granny*

Unbeknownst to everyone else, Precious is currently swimming deep below the water and away from plain sight. Within its stomach lies Sid, who just finished sliding down its throat and landing in what he hopes is chewed-up food.

"Ugh! This smells worse than me!" He grimaced at the goop dripping off his arms.

Granny, on the other hand, popped up next to him, unfazed by where they were and more focused on where they were headed. "Precious, set your flippers 45 degrees north! Granny's done running!" She ordered the whale. They were coming back for the others, and it seemed like Granny had a plan of her own on how to help.

*On Gutt's Ship*

Ellie continued struggling to get out of her restraints, but noticed when Shira approached her. "Back off!" She glared at her.

"It's okay, I'm on your side." Shira reassures her before cutting off one of the vines to free her. Suddenly, a dagger is thrown their way and hits the ice, making Shira back off and turn around to see the thrower was (who else?) Squint.

"I knew you and the human were traitors." He aimed his other dagger at her as his nose twitched.

"Oh, your little bunny nose wiggles in the cutest way when you're mad." She coos at him in a very condescending way.

"WHAT?! Your nine lives are over, kitty!" In the midst of being utterly offended, Squint's anger towards Shira blinded him from seeing Ellie stomp him out hard despite still being tied up.

"Silly rabbit... piracy doesn't pay." The female mammoth soon lifts her foot, revealing Squint has been reduced to a flattened pancake.

"Hey, that's not cool! Come on!"

Shira smirks at the rabbit's misfortune but her smugness was short-lived when she was the final person to get pushed off Gutt's ship by the warthog. She lands near Manny, Diego, Redwood, and Coral, who were all huddled up together while being hopelessly surrounded by the other pirates.

*Meanwhile*

Precious emerges from the water and slowly approaches the ships, being close enough while also staying out of everyone's sight.

Sid pops out of its blowhole, feeling a little grossed out after doing it. "Ugh. Anyone have a body wipe?"

"Suck it up, buttercup! How's it looking?" Granny asks from inside the stomach. She looks into Sid's feet and uses him as a periscope, having him look around at what's happening on the ship since they've left.

"Not good, Granny sir." Sid reports back after seeing the current situation of his friends being cornered.

Hearing this, Granny bends Sid's feet upwards and pushes him away. "Full speed ahead! Dive, dive, dive!" She orders. Precious obeys and goes back underneath the water as Sid positions himself for their plan.

Just as it looked like the herd was done for, Precious emerges from the water, facing upwards with its back turned to the ship. Everyone looks at the whale in shock with how, to them, it practically appeared out of nowhere.

"FIRE!"

Sid is seen clinging to the sides of the blowhole as water shoots out on Granny's command. The force of it ends up hitting the warthog first, knocking it off the herd's ship. And immediately after, Sid was moving around the blowhole and caused the water to blast everywhere until they had hit all the bad guys.

"Booyah, baby!" Sid cheers.

The only person who seemed to be avoiding the blasts was Gutt, who moved out the way as he watched the rest of his crewmates disappear with each blast of water... Well, except for Flynn. His blast from the water took a while longer, pushing him back very slowly.

"This feels so good! Thank you, Mister Whale!" Flynn says before eventually falling off the ship.

The rest of the herd turned around and even they didn't understand the absurdity of what happened. They were saved by a whale. Not even just a whale! It was what they now assume is Granny's pet, no less!

"Hi, Manny." Sid waved at the first person he saw.

"Sid?!" Manny's eyes widened when he noticed Sid was involved in this weird rescue.

"THE SLOTH WAS IN ON THIS?!" Coral's expression upon seeing all of this was priceless.

"That's Sid for ya". Redwood says. "You never really know what to expect with him".

"Help!"

Manny looks toward Gutt's ship and realizes that they left Ellie still tied up there. Even worse, she was parked near land. The same land that had the moving wall start to crumble on itself now that it had nowhere else to move to. And most of its pieces were landing dangerously close to Ellie.

"Mom!" Peaches tried running over but was blocked by Manny.

"No, Peaches! I'll get your mother. You stay there." He tells his daughter.

"Hurry, Manny!" Ellie says.

Manny starts walking over the plank to the other side, when suddenly Gutt cuts the vine that was keeping the herd's ship close to his. The disconnection made Manny's side drift away, making the gap between the ships big enough to have the plank fall into the water and prevent anyone from being able to cross over.

"Payback time." Gutt smiles evilly at Manny. He gasps as the captain moves towards Ellie, dragging his claws on the ice with the threatening implication that he was gonna kill her. 

"Manny!" Ellie yells in fear.

"Ellie!"

Just then, Peaches runs up and grabs onto a vine with her trunk, swinging herself to a higher part of the ship's pole. "I got this, Dad."

"Peaches, no! It's too dangerous!" Manny warns her.

"Not if you're half-possum!" Peaches does some flips and grabs onto another vine before swinging herself around so she could aim her landing on Gutt's ship.

As she did this, Gutt made his way closer to Ellie and pushed aside pieces of the wall that surrounded her. But right before he had the chance to reach her, Peaches swings by and smacks into Gutt, knocking him into a wall of ice at the back of his ship and rendering him unconscious.

Peaches then makes a smooth landing next to Ellie before blowing her hair out of her eye, looking cool as heck in the process.

"She did it!" Redwood cheers. "That's my sister right there!"

Manny also smiles proudly before coming to a conclusion that took him way too long to finally see. "My daughter's all grown up." Seeing what he can do to reach them, Manny knocks down another pole over the gap and uses it to walk across to the other ship.

"That's my girl!" Ellie praises her daughter while she breaks the vines to set her free. Once she's no longer being held against her will, a rumbling sound is heard in the distance, prompting the two to turn to their side and see the wall crumbling some more. "We need to get out of here!" Ellie gets up and starts running with Peaches to the pole that Manny pushed down.

"Go, go, I'm right behind you", Manny says. He starts going after Ellie and Peaches but is stopped when Gutt rushes in front of him and grabs his tusks, trying to pull him away from his family.

"No! I'm right behind you!" He growls at the mammoth.

Peaches doesn't cross over the pole and gasps when she sees her father in danger. "Dad!" Though she didn't know that things were only about to get worse.

Part of the wall falls into the water, landing deep into the ocean floor and putting enough pressure to lift up a huge chunk of it on one side, creating a slope. The slope ends up breaking Gutt's ship and takes the part of the boat with Manny and Gutt on it, separating them from everyone else.

However, Gutt didn't see this as problem. In fact, he was gonna seize this opportunity to finally fight one-on-one with Manny, and he would have no other choice but to stay and perish. "There's nowhere to run, Manny!" Gutt says before swinging Manny by the tusk into the center of their platform, which was now sliding at a fast pace down the slope and out of sight from everyone else.

"No!" Redwood screams. She and the others were watching the whole thing go down from their ship until now. With how the situation was escalating and them losing sight of Manny, they didn't know what they could do at this point.

...except for maybe 3 of them.

"Sloth!" Coral rushes over to the ledge of the herd's ship and calls out to Sid, who was still in Precious' blowhole. She prepares herself before sprinting and jumping off the boat, roughly landing onto the whale's back and next to Sid. "Follow that ice cube!" She points at the ice platform going down on the slope.

"Aye aye, ma'am!" Sid responds.

Meanwhile, Manny and Gutt were in the middle of a sword fight with each other. Gutt had knocked a weapon out of Manny's trunk, so he had to grab a spear in order to block another one of Gutt's attacks. He was able to pin him down but the captain grabbed another knife with his foot, tossing it at Manny and breaking free of his grip. Gutt then flips over and lands behind him, breaking his one sword into two swords before striking again.

"You know, this ocean isn't big enough for the both of us." Gutt says as Manny continues to block his attacks, one of which was a few centimeters from hitting his eye.

"Don't worry! You won't take up much space once I flatten you!" Manny tackles the him down and tries to crush him, but Gutt uses his claws to grip onto Manny's foot painfully and push him off.

Manny growls and charges at the ape but hops out of the way and swings across the branches and vines that appear above them as their platform slides farther down the slope. Gutt manages to grab a log before returning to the platform and kicking Manny in the face. The mammoth slides back and almost falls off the ice upon impact.

When he looks up, he sees Gutt lifting the log like a bat, ready to finish this battle once and for all. "Told you, tubby... you shouldn't have messed with the Master of the Seas."

Manny stands back up and balances himself as he gets an idea on how to truly finish this. "You know, sometimes, it pays to weigh eleven... TONS!" He jumps backward and uses his weight as leverage when he stomps on the tip of the ice, launching Gutt into the air and making his lose the log.

"No!"

Manny grabs the log first and pulls his trunk back as Gutt falls back down."Bon voyage, monkey boy!" He swings the log as hard as he can, hitting the captain and sending him far far away from the area. And considering how much force was put into that swing, it's undeniable that this would be the last time they see this guy.

After the fight was over, Manny turned around to see where the platform was headed, only to find that a cliff was dead ahead. The slope has reached it's end and launched Manny right off of it. He screams for his life just as Precious hops out of the water and saves him by catching him in its mouth.

"Did somebody hail a whale?" Sid says before Precious dives back under the ocean.

Though he's happy he survived, it still surprises Manny that this thing was the pet Granny was looking for the whole time. "So, you must be Precious." He comments to the whale.

Sid goes back through the blowhole and looks down at Granny with a salute. "Mission accomplished, Granny."

"Ha! Who says old ladies can't drive?" She says.

"Why did I come in here? Is it too late to change my life choices?" Coral asks in disgust while also sitting in Precious' mouth.

"Do you ever stop complaining, girl?!" Granny scolds her. "Be glad I didn't switch Sidney with you! It could've been a lot worse!"

"Sorry, ma'am", Coral whispers.

*Somewhere, in a Dark Part of the Ocean*

After landing in the water, Gutt resurfaces and clings onto a peice of ice floating above the water. He tries to catch his breath as he comes to realization that he's basically lost everything at this point. His crew. His ship. His bounty. And his chance for sweet revenge. All he's got left to lose is his life, but he's pretty sure that rock-bottom can't get any lower than this.

Suddenly, something strange swims around Gutt. He looks around trying to spot it, but ends up getting distracted by something appearing in front of him. He looks on to see a giant clam open up with a mermaid ape inside, holding grapes and singing in a beautiful voice. "♫ Oh, Captain Gutt~! ♫"

With no hesitation, Gutt is already enchanted by this creature and paddles toward the clam. "♫ That's me! ♫"

"Let's rule the seas together." The mermaid suggests.

"Aye, aye." Gutt climbs up onto the clam, but once he was too close the mermaid's appearance began to distort, revealing it's true identity to be a siren. Gutt sees this and is taken aback but it's too late. The siren grabs Gutt's face and yanks him inside of the clam as it closes shut. Other sirens swim up to it, presumably bringing Gutt to his fatal end.