~Izzy's P.O.V~

"OK, let me get this straight, you were gonna kill Izzy but because of me, you didn't?" Peaches said, still confused. I shook my head. "No. Something stopped him... There I was, about to lose a vital organ or something, him standing over me about to claw my face off... And he stopped. I don't know." I shrugged while holding onto her. She offered me to ride on her back and being in my condition, I couldn't exactly say I was fine. So I agreed.

"I told you, I don't know what stopped me... I thought I knew you." The tiger said. "Well, thank you. And in this case it's Thank you for not tearing my lungs out." I said and then flinched with my leg hitting Peaches side. "Sorry! I'm trying not to hurt you." She said. "No, I'm OK. Really..." I wasn't. I felt like I was gonna pass out. But when we came back, you know what I saw? Two other mammoths, a sloth and two possums. "Peaches, move!" One of them said, raising it's trunk to hit me. I ducked behind her and almost screamed. "No, dad! Don't hurt her... She's not dangerous." She defended me.

I bit my lip. "Really... I don't want to hurt you. I don't have anything to hurt you with." I claimed, throwing my bag on the ground. Then, the possums went through it. "What is this?" One of them held up my necklace... A special amulet my dad made. "Oh, no! Be careful with that." I said. The possums thought it was funny and one chewed on it while the other pulled on the string. "No, give it back, please!" I begged. They just ran around the female mammoth's feet and then the tiger let out a vicious growl. They dropped it and he picked it up with his teeth, giving it back.

"Oh, thank you." I pulled it passed my neck and it hung around my collar. "So you claim you won't hurt us... Then why did you run?" The tiger said. "Uh... Guess I was in shock. I mean, this isn't exactly a group you would picture to be together..." I started. "We know." The female mammoth said. "I'm Ellie and this is Mannie." She said. I pointed at the two of them silently memorizing the names of each. "He's Diego." She said, pointing at the tiger. "That's Sid." The Sloth. Wow, can you say contradiction? And this is Eddie and Crash, my brothers." She finished.

I looked in confusedness... "Brothers...Right." I went alone with it, pretending I knew what was going on. "So, why are you here?" Diego asked. "My tribe lives here. I've spent most of my life here. So why are you here?" She asked. "Basically, we're getting rest before we have to make a trip again. It's almost Winter." Mannie told me.

"Yeah, and getting colder and colder by the day. Ow!" I said, whimpering at my wound. "Oh, wow, what happened?" Ellie said. "I fell. Don't worry. I've got something." I went through my bag, pulled up my pantleg and wrapped a strip of cloth around my leg a few times and pulled it back down. "That's better. So, where are you headed?" I asked. "Oh, we're going to Glacier Pass." He said. "Really?! That's probably where my tribe's gone! There's a settlement on the other side." I told them. Sid looked up at Mannie with a weird expression and Diego looked at the two. I crossed my arms. "Is it OK if I travel with you? I don't want to go there on my own." I said.

"I dunno... Can we trust you?" Diego said. "Really? I'm the one with trusting issues?" I said, putting my hands on my hips. "Dad, please! She's not dangerous! She wouldn't even hurt Louis!" Peaches begged. "Well, Wiener doesn't count, Peaches. I'm not putting my family in danger. I want to know the truth... You promise not to hurt my family, you can tag along." He said. I yelled out in happiness, "Yes!"

I heard Diego laugh and I looked back. "So, when do we leave?" I asked. "Tomorrow. Tonight, we're camping out here. Since your the human, you get to make the fire." Mannie said. I rolled my eyes. "Alright. Guess I better hurry. Night's more colder than day." I went around in my bag and pulled out my gloves and walked around in the woods, looking for, well... Wood. I broke a small, thin tree down with my foot and broke it up in pieces for the firewood. "Need some help?" I heard. I turned around to see Peaches. "Oh, hey... Yeah, sure. Can you uh... Give me a hand?" I asked, holding a log that was too heavy.

She wrapped her trunk around it and lifted it up. I grabbed another one and held it over my shoulder, along with some twigs. We went back to where we were sleeping, which was a deep cave, and I put the wood down. Peaches put the log down first, I put down the other one, and then piled the twigs on top before I got two separate rocks and cracked them together a few times before I saw sparks.

I then lit some dry pine needles on fire and put it under the logs. That caught fire and soon it started to warm up. I tugged my jacket up over my shoulders, rubbing my hands together. I could still see my breath but it was helping. Diego and Sid sat down near me. "You did good." Sid said. "Yeah, better than you." Diego said back. "Oh. Please."

I rolled my eyes and took my gloves off, putting my hands near the heat and feeling them De-frost. "Warm enough?" Diego asked. "Yeah, thanks. You guys, I just want you to know that I'm grateful. Didn't think my friends in life could be animals..." I wondered out loud. "Well, we're here for you, Izzy." Peaches said. "Thanks..." I bit my lip. "So, what happened? Why were you in the river?" Ellie asked. I let out a breath.

"Sabers attacked my tribe." A gasp came from Sid and I rolled my eyes. "And what did you do?" Mannie asked. "What any daughter would've done. I listened to my father. He told me to get out of there, but a saber cornered me to a cliff... So, we argued before I got the brilliant idea to jump... Bad Idea. The water underneath the ice basically paralyzed me... But I guess it carried me to shore. So, that's my story." She said.

"I'm sorry, Izzy..." Ellie said. "No... But, I am scared... I don't even know if my family made it out alright..." I looked down, forcing back tears. "Izzy... Where's your mother?" Diego asked. I sniffed. "She died when I was an infant. This is all I have of her." I held up the necklace.

"I- I'm sorry to hear that." He looked down. "Don't be sorry. I swear, if I ever find the person responsible... They won't be able to see sunlight again." I growled angry. Some of the heard stared at me as if I was a homicidal maniac. But I forced myself to look down. "Well, I'm tired. Goodnight." I laid down where I was and put my face in my arms, yawning. "Night, dad." I heard Peaches say. "Night, mom."

"Goodnight, sweetie." Ellie said. "Goodnight, Peaches." Mannie replied. I bit my lip as sleep washed over me like a warm water shower...

~The Next Day~

"Come on, we've been walking for hours! Can't we get a break?" Peaches complained to her dad. "We'll stop when we find a good place to stop." Mannie said. I rolled my eyes. "How do you do this?" She asked me. "I dunno. Don't get tired easily..." And just then, I fell back from a blast. I looked up at a chasm. "Oh, Gods." I said, looking down inside... "Ugh, smells like burning monkey." I said, pinching my nose. "Is it that or Do-Do flesh?" Sid said. "What?" I asked. "Oh, ignore him, Izzy. Come on, gotta keep moving. Your heard doesn't stop moving." Diego said, nudging my legs. I sighed and rubbed my nose. "Where are we headed now, Diego?" I asked. "Uh... For now, forward." He said. "Ah...Basically." And then, I tripped over something. I looked down at the log and then looked around... "This place seems familiar." I said. "Really?" The possums ran around in circles. "Seems deserted to me." One said. Don't know which.

"No, like... Like I've been here before... Anyone else get that feeling?" I asked. "Uh... Not really." Peaches and Ellie said. I looked at the other three who kept silent. I clicked my tongue and felt a chill. More snow fell from the sky, coating the ground in another blanket of white. "Well, lets keep moving, huh?" I then froze... "Wait a minute..." I climbed up over the side of the cliff. "One of you, stop her!" I heard. But I was already over. I then screamed. One of the sabers.

Another vicious growl came from over my head. Diego leaped in front of me, protecting me. And then froze. "Zeke?" He said. "Diego?" The other one said. I grabbed a chunk of wood from my side and threw it at the tiger. It fell over itself. "Run!" I yelled to the others. Just then, I struggled to get up. My pants got caught on a branch from the bush. I tugged on it but nothing. Then a growl came at me. I looked at the tiger who charged at me but I managed to release my pantleg and kicked the tiger in the face. "Run, now!" I yelled at Diego. He did and I ran behind him, catching up with the others.

"What happened? It's like you knew him." I said, falling on a boulder and gasping for breath. "I... I did, once. But I thought he was dead." He said. "Well, then... It's now clear we're being followed. Everyone please, be cautious... Not one more mishap." I begged. "OK, Peaches, stay close to me- Where'd Peaches go?" Mannie looked around, clueless. I growled. "Great... A loose teenage mammoth? Well, everyone take a break, I'll be looking for hours!" I said, walking towards the woods. "Hold on, I'm coming!" Mannie yelled, following me. I shrugged. We walked into the woods and I pushed branches out of my way and made a small path by kicking the leaves.

I started to hum the lullaby that I sang earlier... "What are you singing?" Mannie asked me. "I'm not singing. I'm humming. It's a lullaby my mother use to sing to me, apparently. I go by what my brother says." I shrugged and dug around in my bag, pulling out my knife. "Whoa! What're you doin' with that?" Is he serious?

"Relax! I'm not gonna stab you... I'm marking the trail." I walked over to a tree and carved an arrow in it, pointing backwards. "It'll show us where we are if we walk in circles." I said. "That's good... Where'd you learn that?" He said.

"It's an old tribal trick. Instead of animals smelling which direction they go, we mark the trails." I said, blowing some bark off the blade.

~1 Hour Later~

"This doesn't make a lick a sense... After an hour, you'd think we'd find her!" I shouted with anger, my foot tapping the ground. I got so mad that I threw my knife from my hands and stabbed a nearby tree. "Y'know, that's making me question your sanity." Mannie remarked. "Oh, get over yourself." I walked up to the tree and yanked it from the bark, slipping it into my bag... I then heard something. Sounded like teen laughter. "Guess who? C'mon!" I ran off in that direction. Guess what, way off the trail! The further I got to the voices, the more calm I became. And then I heard another familiar voice...

"Louis?" How did I remember that? I can barely remember names and then I just said that out of nowhere? Wow, I'm getting better.

"Your telling me that Mole-Hog followed us?" Mannie remarked again. I rolled my eyes. "Calm down. Peaches! Hey, where are you?!" I shouted out. And then I saw her walking towards us. Yeah, I saw Louis' little burrow as well. "Now... You wanna tell me where the heck you've been?" I said. "Sorry, I got... Sidetracked." She said. And I looked down, waiting... "I know it's you, Louis." His head and body crawled out of the hole.

"Sorry if we caused you any alarm, sir." He apologized to Mannie. "Alarm?! My daughter was missing for an hour and a half!" He shouted. "Dad, I'm fine! I didn't get hurt!" Peaches tried to reason with him. "You deliberately disobeyed me!" He yelled. "Okay! Manny, can I talk to you for a second over here, please?" I said. "Why?"

"Now!" I yelled. He reluctantly followed me out of their ear shot. "Okay, I know your a little ticked off, but you've got to learn to control your temper! She's still a teenager. She's gonna make mistakes. And in time, it'll be her business to learn from them." I said. "But she was missing for an hour and a half! This is definitely the time to get mad!" He yelled. I smacked my forehead. "Your not listening... Just, try not to be so hard on her! In safe terms, she was with someone responsible... And he's not a wiener." I crossed my arms and he huffed in anger. "I was a teenager once. We all were. And like every teenager, the more your parents yell at you, the more you wanna rebel. Soon, it'll be a family mutiny. Just... Try an calm down once in a while." I said. He was finally getting it. "OK, I'll try." Mannie agreed. "Good start."

I turned around. "Peaches, we're glad your safe, and now, we must return back to the rest of the group, cause right now, I can't feel my toes." I said. Just then, I saw Louis' face. He was looking at my leg. "What happened to your leg, Izzy?" He said. I looked down... The blood was leaking from the bandage through my pants. "Oh great." I pulled up my pantleg and saw that it was getting worse. But it didn't really hurt!

"Don't worry, Louis... I fell. Not so bad." I lied. "Really? Cause it looks terrible." He scampered over to me and I felt his paws wrap around my ankles. I rolled my eyes. "I'm fine. It doesn't even hurt." I said. That was the truth. "Hey, Izzy... I've got an idea." I heard Peaches say... "Really?" I stepped over to the side. "What if Louis tags along with us?" She said. I then grinned. "That would be Really fun!" I turned back around to Louis...

"Louis, I have a question." I got down on one knee. He looked up with hopeful eyes. "Peaches And I wanna know if you wanna come with us on our trip. We're going to Glacier Pass to catch up with my tribe." I said. "Wow... You want me to come along?" He said. "Of course! Its cause of you that I met them!" I patted his head and he rolled his eyes. "I think that would be great." I looked up at Mannie. "Whaddya say, Mannie? Wanna bring 'em along?" I asked. He groaned. I then glared him down, reminding him what I said...

"Long as he doesn't slow us down." He said. "Great! Come on, we have to go back to the cave!" Before I could stand up, Louis jumped onto my shoulder. I smirked. "Wanna ride, bud?" I joked. "Like you even had to ask." He said. "All right. We're moving out." We followed my trail markings all the way back to where the rest of the herd was. The possum brothers made remarks about Louis, calling him Wiener and stuff.

Sid was going on about something, not important enough to remember what, and Diege kept looking at me skeptically... Its like he wanted to tell me something... But he just couldn't. Dunno what's holding him back. Doesn't matter, I'll ask him if I ever get a chance. Maybe when we make camp tonight...