Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Detailed narrative- takes place during the main three's capture in the fourth movie.

Diego jolted awake, wincing at the sudden light searing through his eyes. It took him a good minute to come back to his senses and make sense of just why he was tied up to a large wooden pole in the middle of the ocean. The last thing he remembered was a slight sense of motion sickness surrounding him as he was carried into the pirate ship, despite of his countless attempts to free himself.
Trying his best to escape from the ropes that bound him, he scanned around the ship to find Manny tied up right below him in the opposite direction of the pole, unconscious. Seeing as the four pirates in front of him were kept busy in mocking Sid, Diego tried to voluntarily move the pole hard enough to get Manny to wake up.
However, he was interrupted from doing so when he suddenly saw the ruthless black baboon who captured him jump just a few inches away from his face.
"Trying to escape already, are we?" He mocked, toying with a sharply made pocketknife dangerously close to his face. "I can't let my guests leave just yet. Not before I can convince the three of you to join me yourself. "
The saber glared back at him. "Listen, you can keep us here for as long as you want, because we will never agree to trade our home for yours."
"Good." He simply replied. "I have plenty of time, after all."
Gutt scoffed for one last time before heading towards the now awake mammoth.
"Mornin' sunshine! Let me be the first to extend a hand...of friendship."
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Gutt finally met Manny's eyes, with a defeated look on his face. He sighed, and simply went in to whisper in his ear,

"That family is going to be the death of you." He said, ominously. The trio had proven to be more stubborn than he had imagined.
Noticing the sudden change in his tone, Manny knew that the monkey was done being nice.

What he also noticed, was a saber with a pale silver tinted fur looking at him, but not in a mocking manner like the other pirates. It was almost as if she was impressed by his ability to hide how truly scared he was, how his determination to find his family surrounded him.
However, she was quick to look away when her captain ordered her to prepare for their execution.

"Prepare the plank!"
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Their ship had sunk.

Not to say she didn't want to eventually abandon their so-called captain..

But perhaps her only home had sunk.

She knew them enough to know that none of them were worth calling family, neither did they care enough to become one...

But her only hope to live had sunk.

The worst part was, she wasn't in the seas long enough to know how to swim, and found herself surrounded by the very four people who were supposed to be her enemies, or at least that's what she was meant to believe.

Jolted away from her thoughts, she came to face a new familiar face of a sloth.

"Aren't you cold?" Sid asked her, quite curiously, handing her a leaf-woven coat.

It was now that she realized that she was soaking wet indeed, even more so than the others. The problem was, she couldn't afford falling to being gullible towards others that could take advantage of her. Not again. And even though she nonchalantly denied his offer, she questioned the odds of the same situation repeating itself twice.
For if there was one thing she had learned after leaving her pack- it was that no one, no matter how convincing, should be trusted. Why, the fact that she had been left behind by Gutt was a standing example of that.

By the time she had been lost in her thoughts, the sloth had managed to break a conveniently large chunk of ice from their iceberg, making the mammoth bump into the other saber (whom she particularly disliked) who also bumped into her, almost knocking her off into the water- like a domino.

"Ugh, Sid!" Manny groaned.
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The sun was setting as if into a peaceful slumber, ignoring the situation going on below it. Most would say that the sun is a gift given to them in the form of light, warmth and the promise of a good harvest.
Ellie never believed them. She had seen it shining above them carelessly every single time she needed its comfort, and this day was no different.
Everyone was now forced to stop moving towards the bridge as they all knew that moving in the dark would destroy their chances of surviving more than the incredibly giant wall behind them.
Though generally anxious considering her situation, Ellie was relieved at the moment to see everyone taking the form of a tight-knit community and doing their best to try and help each other. That's what the herd expected them to be when they built this valley, after all.
"If Manny could see this, he would be proud in his own secretive way." she thought.
"Manny..."
the thought of her him and the rest of her friends tied her stomach into an inconvenient knot. She didn't know where they were. They could be stranded in a lone island all alone, waiting for the brink of starvation to take them. Or worse, they could've already drowned.
However, she knew that no matter what happened or happens to them in the near future it was her job to keep up faith, to disperse these negative ruminations for everyone on her own. It was the least she could do.
Initially headed to a small cave to seek shelter with Peaches, she was bought to a stop. She saw her daughter hanging from a tree like usual, but alongside her stood her not-so-new subject of interest, Ethan. She wore an unusual nonchalant expression in front of him which Ellie could see through. She was trying really hard.
Ellie slowly took cover behind a tree inches away from the scene, just as she felt a noticeably warm smile creep up on her face.

_____

The sky looked as if the ever so glowing radiance of the sun was swallowed whole by darkness, allowing the dimmer stars to shine. She didn't like the stars. They made her sad.

But the only thing she could do given the current situation was to mindlessly stare at them.
Shira peeked out of the tree trunk she was imprisoned into and was able to see the ship that her crewmates had spent the entire day fixing, unaware of her presence on the island above them.
Suddenly, her view was obstructed by a certain mammoth. It was Manny, a member of the same team that had managed to capture her. To an extent, she would be lying if she were to say that she wasn't afraid of him the most out of the other four. Even the saber, Diego warned her about underestimating the mammoth's abilities earlier that night. She shot a quick glance at the bowl of water that was offered to her a few moments ago and almost smiled.

No....she wasn't starting to grow fond of her enemy, was she?

Manny simply examined her, holding onto an intimidating gaze full of judgement. He broke his staring trance after what felt like ages, drawing Shira away from her own thoughts, and finally spoke.

"Why would you want to go back?"

To say that her face implied an expression of carelessness would be an understatement. She showed no fear, no regret.
But Manny, he could see the hesitation and reluctance that consumed her behind that facade. This had always been an ability he'd been proud of.

Regardless, she simply chuckled. The mammoth raised an eyebrow.

"It's funny. You'd be better off killing me and yet you make these meaningless attempts at changing me. Some important family you must have." She mocked.

"More meaningless than you sticking with those guys?" He pointed at the ship standing below, on which the animals on board danced around in what seemed like a party. "Look. They don't care about you being gone one bit."

She sighed, slowly reclining back by the trunk of the tree she was imprisoned in. "What I should or shouldn't do is none of your business, mammoth. You and your sidekicks are lucky I haven't called out for them to catch you again."

"Maybe my 'sidekicks' and I are sane enough to know that you would've called for them hours ago if you didn't see that we were worth saving."

Seeing as the saber finally started showing a noticeable frown on her face gave him the signal to continue.

"I've seen you back there. The way your arrogance dies in front of him. Face it, you'd rather put up with us than that monster." He said, stepping closer with an ever-so intimidating voice.

She scoffed, as if surprised by the audacity. "Maybe I would. But how does that change anything?"

"...."

The silence deepened, giving her the signal to continue.

"You all may act like heroes, but as soon as you get back to your family, you wouldn't care. You'd toss me away." She stated flatly.

His expression darkened. "You don't know that."

"I'd rather not take the risk." She scoffed in response.

"Suit yourself. It's Manny, by the way." He replied, giving out a sigh of defeat. This may have been the first time he had failed to change someone's mind.

Somehow, she was harder to crack. He could almost sense the irony in their exchange, knowing that he was the same way a few years ago.

Needless to say, it didn't shock him when they found her gone the next morning.

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Chapter Text

The magnificent seas surrounding Switchback Cove were mirrored by the scarlet hues of the rising sun. Every mammal, with the exception of one, was still sleeping soundly, obtaining some much-needed rest before putting their intricate plan into action.

The plan in question had been practically ingrained into Shira's brain, for Manny must have explained the strategy to the group at least 10 times to ensure that the hyraxes (and more importantly, Sid and Granny) fully understood it. It was simple- and yet doomed for failure. She was willing to stake her life on the outcome, regardless of what the three of them said or how confident they seemed. Simply put, Gutt was NOT someone to mess with unless you had a death wish. She had even warned Diego earlier in the night, but to no avail.

She opened her eyes with a sudden surge of resolve. She needed to get out of there, and now was her only chance. Clawing the thinner end of the tree trunk carefully, she soon found herself footsteps away from freedom while the others were still asleep. However, there was only one more thing holding her back.

"Can I tell you the difference between you and me?"

Diego's words still echoed inside of her subconscious.

"we both might have wanted out of pack life but at least I didn't trade one pack for another. I got something more."

Something...more?

She couldn't help but wonder if that was a life she could settle for. It sounded absurd, like a pipe dream- and yet, It was so tempting.

She shook her head in an effort to get the contradicting thoughts out of her head. She was not designed for a life of family and friends. She was a pirate and would always be an evil, unrelenting pirate, no less. Why, the crew had repeatedly been warned by her captain many times about their enemies, how they would always try to deceive them into thinking that there was more to life than....this.

After all, Gutt did care about her just as much as the rest of his crew, right?

She pondered for several moments before tip-toeing her way to the very source of her frustration. The saber.

Fast asleep, he seemed peaceful considering the circumstances. It was almost as if he took solace in the togetherness of his unusual family, yet remained equally conflicted for they were amidst a fight for their lives. His expression fluctuated between a look of pure serenity to a scrunched-up scowl of discomfort. She almost found it cute- almost, because the weight of decision had been getting heavier on her shoulders with every passing moment.

Dawn was breaking on her, and in an instant she realized that she was out of time, for her captors were soon to awaken from slumber.

Shooting a wistful glance at Diego, she began sprinting out of their hideout. She had no right to betray her captain, to yearn for a life she didn't deserve, as she had forfeited that privilege the moment she stepped out on her pack years ago....right?

_______________________

Crash was not afraid of anything.

To most, he was nothing beyond a cowardly possum. But in reality, you could ask him to jump off a waterfall any time of the day, and he'd still complain about having a boring, sheltered life.

And that, was something only Eddie knew. His brother was his biggest idol, and he wished to be as cool as him one day. He admired his wild, adventurous vigor to the point where he had stopped caring about whatever bigger problems the world had to offer.

It didn't matter where they were, they didn't care if the world was ending; Crash and Eddie had achieved a certain notoriety for having fun even in the most dire of situations.

So, why did the thought of having "fun" suddenly terrify him?

"Doesn't it weigh on you that the world might be ending?"

The feeling had begun when Louis gave the reckless duo a reality-check. Yes, he supposed that launching yourselves out of a ten-foot tree with a potentially life endangering wall behind them was reasonably irresponsible. It had never occurred to him before, so why was he suddenly shuddering at the thought of partaking in yet another dangerous activity with his twin brother?

"Uh, you okay?" Crash interrupted his thoughts, catching on to the fact that his brother had been staring at the ground for an uncharacteristic amount of time now.

Eddie suddenly jolted his gaze to meet his eyes, and faked a smile. "Yeah! totally...you're the one who's not okay..."

His brother hummed skeptically, noticing but not nearly bothered to question his odd response- why, it could very easily be chalked up to the life-endangering clump of collapsing islands behind them. It had been a treacherous few days and they had all been on edge, and he was determined to make the most out of it. Since when was the end of the world a point of concern to Crash and Eddie?

"Okay." Crash began venturing up to the peak of a long tree, not a touch of hesitation behind his eyes. "Ready?"

Eddie shot a quick glance towards the pile of rocks he was expecting to hit, and then back towards him, relieved that he wasn't going first.

But that wasn't the only thing bothering him.

"A-Are you sure that this is safe?" he gulped.

"Not if you don't launch me in the next ten seconds." he shouted, gesturing towards the wall behind them. "And since when do WE care about being safe, anyway?"

Eddie took a moment to analyze the situation, not realizing that it only made things worse- for the deathly wall wasn't one to wait and inched closer to their position.

"But...still- you're not a TEENSY bit concerned about-"

"What are you waiting for? just launch me!" he exclaimed, receiving a surprising amount of hesitation from Eddie, who seemed to be lost. He wasn't just afraid of putting himself in danger.....he didn't want to lose his brother, not after he almost HAD lost him once to their unworldly antics.

"-I don't know, say, imminent DEATH?!"

He remembered the sudden emptiness growing inside of him back then, when they were in the middle of fighting the meltdown. Seeing his brother face-plant into the hard bark of a tree in an attempt to fly- not knowing if he had lost his life to nothing but a stupid antic- It had felt like half of his soul had left his body.

"Uh, hello!? Why are you just standing there?" Crash exclaimed, to no response. "Eddie?...WATCH OUT!"

He suddenly launched towards the direction of his brother- the wall chasing after them. He lunged forward in an attempt to land into a section of the island that was merely seconds away from being destroyed to bits.

Ensuring a tight grip on Eddie's hand, the possum fled for their lives. It was all so quick- he couldn't even process what was happening.

"Alright, that's it!" Crash began, stepping in front of the latter after gaining a significant amount of distance on the wall. "You've been acting weird, dude- and I get that we don't exactly love getting sappy with each other...but I can tell that something's up with you and I'd just like to know what the HELL happened back there!"

"I..." Breathless, Eddie started. "It's stupid. Something's wrong with me, Crash."

"What do you mean?"

Eddie sat down dejectedly, not caring if the ground beneath them was stable.

Crash was, to put it mildly, stunned. He wasn't exactly experienced with, well, the general concept of being serious.

"Um. I can get Ellie if you want to talk about-"

"I'm not as fun as I used to be!" He turned his back on his brother and spoke up. "I...I feel-"

No, saying it out loud felt like a forbidden crime.

"What, scared?"

Eddie's face hung low over his own tail as he nodded.

Crash tried to meet the other possum's eyes- searching, yearning for a single speck of his usual smile. Should he try to make him laugh?

"I think being scared got old the last time we saved the world. I mean, what is this, the fourth time-"

"Yeah, and what were we doing all of those times? being stupid, putting our own lives in danger more than mother nature ever could... you said it yourself, we're just very, VERY stupid!"

"So? I'd much rather spend my last moments being stupid with you than doing anything else." Crash added nonchalantly.

"I-I didn't think about it like that..." Eddie nodded thoughtfully, finally looking up to meet his brother's gaze.

Crash didn't fully understand the gravity of the conversation that had been exchanged, but he must have said something right.

Eddie sighed. "I bet you didn't wanna spend 'your last moments' being stuck in a cheesy conversation with me."

To his surprise, Crash shook his head, before extending a hand towards the other possum to help him up.

"Nah. I'm glad we talked about this before we...y'know, for the fourth time."

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"One thing, Sid! You couldn't do ONE thing?! Look at you....."

Sid had been paralyzed for a while now.

His body was resting on the frigid, hard surface of the ship, and he had become accustomed to the uncomfortable chill that ran through his veins. Eyes struggling to stay open, he could barely see Manny steering their ship with a newfound confidence.

He could also see his saber-toothed friend frantically pacing back and forth around the ship's corner, as if he were questioning a hundred different things at once, all the while keeping a watchful eye on Sid to make sure he didn't fall off.

Oh, if only he could move, he'd jump onto his feet and do what he did best- enjoy the moment. Admire the scenery, replenish his growling stomach with some food. Man, he was hungry.

It certainly did him no favours to discover that Granny had thrown off most of the fruits on the ship into the sea in the name of her presumed imaginary pet (a story even Sid couldn't believe).

To be perfectly honest, he wasn't even surprised in the slightest by how delusional she was. After all, she was a part of his own family. A family so dysfunctionally horrific that he had lost count of just how many times he'd been abandoned.

It wasn't fair. Neither him or his granny had done anything to deserve their predicament.

His face strained before curling into a sad frown. Sid never liked to be left alone with his thoughts. It never paired well with his optimistic outlook on life.

That's why he had a reputation for being way too chatty- and he didn't mind that others found it annoying, for it helped keep his darkest thoughts at bay.

Suddenly, he winced, feeling something thrown onto him. Opening his eyes, he realised that the older sloth had passed him a bundle of bananas.

"Eat up, Sidney! I won't be saving the rest for you." she grumbled. He struggled to meet her eyes, almost amazed by her awareness.

Then his eyes met Diego's, a bystander in the conversation who was just as dumbfounded as the sloth. They shared a hearty laugh, which was something they hadn't gotten to do in a dangerously long time.

No, maybe there was still hope. For his real family had nothing to do with blood- he would much rather die with this family by his side than with his real family.

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