Hey guys, first one-shot. Tell me what you think. And one thing, this has no relation to any of my other stories, but sorry if it confuses you. Remember, no connection. Oh, and speaking of my other stories, I'm almost done with the 3rd chapter for Love of a Friend, so yay! And if anyone has any requests for Survival at Sea, I'd like to hear them. And I'd like to take a vote for anyone that reads Acceptance. For the big conflict, should it be a big fight between them, between Squint and one of the herd, or something bad happens (earthquake, blizzard, etc.)? Tell me what you want, and whichever gets the most votes, I'll do.

Raz gasped as she pulled herself out the water and onto a floating piece of ice. Shivering from the icy waves and coughing from involuntarily inhaling water, she collapsed on her side. She wrapped her arms around her and curled up, trying to warm up. It wasn't working.

Her memories were foggy, she remembered seeing her brothers mercilessly thrown into the water, taking a step forward to help, before she was hit as well, with a force so great she knew it had broken some bones, and then… nothing. It was all a blur from there.

She could feel her side aching, indicating her fractured ribs, and her shoulder definitely wasn't in the socket anymore. And, judging by the way she couldn't move her wrist without experiencing large amounts of great pain, she'd snapped it as well.

At least she was alive, though.

But she wasn't sure she wanted that. She had no family, so home, nothing. That mammoth… he had taken everything from her. Sank the only home she'd ever known, probably drowned all of her brothers, turned her sister against her, and, to top it all off, had killed the only fatherly figure she'd ever had. And while he got to sail away and have his happy ending, with his wife and daughter and friends, she was left with nothing.

She shivered again, but this time, it wasn't from the cold. She slowly sat up and looked around, wincing from the pain. It was dark, but her eyes quickly adjusted. Other pieces of ice floated around her, but nothing that indicated her family was anywhere near, alive or not.

Even if they had survived, she had no idea where they were. They could've been anywhere in the ocean, drifting around and hopelessly lost. Lost. The word echoed around her head. It's what she was. Lost. Alone. Alone in dangerous, unknown waters with none of her companions, no weapons, no proper ship, nothing to keep her safe. She shivered again.

Lost… she didn't want to be, but she was. Lost and all alone in cold, dark waters. Swallowing hard, she laid back down and curled up again, closing her eyes in misery. And for the first time in many, many years, she cried. She cried herself to sleep, the deepest she'd ever slept.

She woke up, hours later, but she knew immediately knew something was different. She was no longer laying on the ice, she was surrounded by something she recognized easily, mist. Lots and lots of mist. And she couldn't feel the ground, or water, or the ice, or… anything.

She glanced around. Where was she? She saw something glinting in the distance and, figuring she might find something to guide her or give her a basic idea of where was, hopped in that direction. Arriving a minute or so later, she was confused to find a large golden gate glimmering there, towering above her so high she couldn't see the top, nor the bottom because it was surrounded in fog. She couldn't see her ankles or feet either.

She slowly reached up a paw and hesitantly pushed, unsure. She, being a former pirate, knew to expect the unexpected when traveling into an unknown place.

She slowly hopped inside, amazed at what she saw. She saw all of her brothers around her, lounging on clouds and drinking from silver chalices. Spread around on the multiple clouds were fields and fields of weapons, every sort she could think of. Swords, daggers, spears, starfish, sea urchins, everything. With her family there and all the weapons, it was a dream come true to her, almost like… heaven.

Heaven.

Was she dead? She looked around and realized that was the only logical explanation for all this. Either that, it was one crazy, messed up (in a good way, of course) dream. She slowly bent down and touched the nearest sword, an exact replica of her favorite spiral shell one, her first ever weapon given to her in her life. It was a present from Gutt, but the memories didn't bring feelings of sadness, like she predicted.

"Hey! Raz!" a voice called out, and Squint came up to her. "About time. We were wondrin' when you were gonna come in."

"Huh?" she was still very confused. She didn't know if she was dreaming or dead.

"Here, have a drink. The food here is amazing."

He hopped up on her shoulder and hugged her neck, surprising her so much she almost dropped the sword she was holding. Wait a second…

She'd dreamt of weapons before, lots of them, but in her dreams, she couldn't really touch the sword. She could feel it's texture from memory, but there was difference between memorial feeling and actual contact. But she could tell, it was real. And that meant she most certainly wasn't dreaming.

She slowly approached her friends with Squint by her side. Gupta patted the area next to him, inviting her to sit down and be comfortable. She did. And she had to admit, the clouds were the softest thing she'd ever felt. Gupta latched onto her arm and gave her a squeeze, and she realized happily that it no longer hurt from the dislocated shoulder.

"Good to have you here, Raz." He murmured. She couldn't help but hug back. She was finally truly happy. So maybe the captain wasn't there, but who cared? She was finally in a place where she could be happy, be free, with her brothers. She didn't have to be a perfect pirate anymore to please the evil ape. She didn't have to act like something she wasn't (although she did enjoy it). She'd never have to be anything but herself here, she was finally home.

She was finally happy.

So, what'd you think? Remember, this has no relation to any of my other stories, in any others that I may or may not write, they will be alive. Oh, and one more thing. I still can't get over writing for Ice age, so I'll take requests for any stories that you want to see. As long as it stays K, K+, or very mild T (I refer to stay in the K's, though).