Chapter 20: The end.

Scratt didn't know why, but the female mammoth, the elder one, decided that he should stay with them.

Her husband groaned loudly at this request, but one Peaches, who he'd found to be the teenage mammoth who's unintentionally flattened him, had scrapped him off the ground, her mother had noticed he was the same saber-squirrel who'd given them directions.

"Hey, maybe he could come with us!"

Diego and Shira exchanged bemused looks at this as the possums jumped on either side of the grey squirrel staring at him dumbly.

"He's scruffy!"

"He's gotta nut!"

Sid kept staring at him, tapping his chin. "I...could have sworn I'd seen him ages ago..."

Manny rolled his eyes. "We saw him in the caves, Sid. It wasn't that long ago."

Scratt scratched his head thoughtfully, pondering what 'Sid' the sloth had said. Wait a minute...

He started jumping up and down, rambling on incoherently He then mimed packing his nut onto his back, pacing aroudn the place. Sid's bulging eyes widened.

"Oh my gosh!" He exclaimed, waving his arms, looking back and forth between Manny and Diego wildly "He's the guy who gave us the directions to half-peeky place, whatever it was!"

Diego and Manny glanced at each other questionly. Then, something clicked in their memory.

"Pack of long teeth and...claws..."

"A pack of noses?"

"A pack of bears?"

Diego recalled pinging that rodent into the air and sending him cartwheeling down the hill soon after; But he kept this to himself.

"You were that guy from before!" Manny muttered, clearly looking surprised. Peaches rose her eyebrow at the rodent.

"Well, I guess he can come with...I mean, more the merrier?" She looked ver at her father, waiting for the verdict. They ignored Granny's calling for Precious as Manny began considering it.

Scratt stood awkwardly, surrounded by them all and clasping his nut, muttering "Do-ee..." nervously to himself.

Manny couldn't help but feel like he'd seen this rodent...not just in the caves or on their freezing journey with Pinky, but everywhere. Like you did with rocks...or a particular type of plant. Rocks seemed more alike this guy, though, he thought to himself.

Well, Ellie was giving him a firm yet happy look, and Peaches looked grateful for his help...

"Alright, fine. But he better not cause trouble!" He eyed the saber-tooth squirrel as he said this. He nodded up and down.

"Okay, then. Let's get going, I'm tired and I would liek to go to sleep for once."

Granny hopped onto Sid's shoulders as they continued up the mountain path.

"Alright, Sidney, Moosh!"

Sid began trotting forward quickly so he didn't anger his grandmother. Scratt held back in confusion, hesitant.

He'd never been in a herd before. He hadn't done much but travel around and trying to find a way to keep his nut save. Not to mention this herd was very wierd...

But...it didn't sound like a bad idea ss long as he didn't get stepped on too much.

Diego turned and looked at him over his shoulder, frowning.

"You coming or what?"

Scratt scurried after them, finally making up his mind. The possums exchanged gleeful, mischievous looks. A new person to annoy was a novelty for them, after all.

The herd moved up the mountain trail as the day passed. Not much was said other than Manny scolding Peaches again, Shira teasing Diego again about being soft, but other than that there was a silence, especially from Manny, Sid and Diego.

It had seemed like yesterday, really. When the three of them had met, all surrounding that kid who was now all grown up. Time sure flies...

They reached the top of the mountain trail, finding a trench cutting through the ridge-like mountain. Following the path they saw that below was the familiar part of the island they lived in, the caves (now probably collapsed) were visible not far away.

As they continued down the trail, A certain sloth sniffed.

"Do ya think we'll ever see him again?" Sid asked sadly as they went. Manny wasn't so sure.

"I don't know, Sid. But at least he'll remember us like he did before."

"Yeah." Diego added quietly. "I don't think his family will every forget the crazy stuff that's happened..."

Far away, just outside the human camp was a single, wide cave sitting under a waterfall. It was almost hidden to all eyes, that is, unless you knew where to find it.

If you did, you would find a new, colourful drawing painted on its wall, colours flaming like the sunset. The figures were of a mammoth, a sloth and a tiger, an infant held in the trunk of the largest mammal. They were sat around a fire, surrounded by a blizzard of snow. The second was of a man touching the trunk of the mammoth, holding his son in his arms.

Another painting was of a smaller mammoth and a molehog traveling through a long, winding tunnel, the tunnel winding around the largest picture like a ribbon or ivy.

The largest picture was the clearest and the most colorful. It showed the image of two mammoths, a dark male and a lighter female, their trunks held tight in a loving embrace as their baby danced around them happily from nearby.

THE END.