Rose The Weasel (Ice Age)

Number six

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"Hey, great news. I found a short cut." With grin the tiger ran up to us.

The baby slid down Manny's trunk before the mammoth placed him back on his back. "What do you mean short cut?" 

"I mean faster than the long way around." 

"Au! I know what a short cut is." Manny owed when the baby kept climbing over his face and failed at pulling him away because of holding a strand of his hair.

"Look, either we beat the humans to Glacier Pass or we take the long way and miss them." I mean, it makes sense but when I look at through where we are supposed to go, it doesn't feel like a good idea to me. 

"Through there?" Manny pointed at the short cut. "What do you take me for?" 

"This time tomorrow you can be a free mammoth. Or a nanny. Personally, I never get tired of peekaboo." The imagine of Diego making peekaboo at the baby makes me snicker, remembering the look the baby was throwing him. Yeah, keep making an idiot of yourself.  

"Hey, guys. Hey, guys. Check this out." Sid put two pieces of icicles on each side of his neck and pretend to be pierced through. 

"Sid, the kitten found a short cut." I told him, ignoring glare the tiger threw me. Sid looked at it for a moment, then turned. 

"No, thanks. I choose life." Sid turned to walk away, if it wasn't for Diego stopping him.

"Then I suggest you take a short cut." He said it in threatening voice and Sid pointed at him with suspicion.

"Are you threatening me?" 

"Move, sloth!" Diego's yell echoed around it caused the glacier to shake suddenly, our eyes widening. 

"Way to go, tiger." Sid patted Diego. 

"Quick. Inside." We all darted towards the entrance. To my unfortunate, the snow is too tick for me to run faster, only slowing me down. All of sudden I'm picked into jaw with sharp teeth and carried after others inside, right before the snow blocked the entrance. 

"Ok, I vote short cut." Manny said and turned to walk through the so called short cut. Gently I'm lowered to the ground on my four paws and I turn to Diego with admiration. All this time we were only bickering and teasing each other in annoying way, and now he saves me? What softened his predatory heart? 

"Diego?" He turned to me. "Thanks." 

"Yeah. Whatever." It looks like he's embarrassed or flustered, avoiding meeting my brown eyes and turned to follow others. I smiled and followed, jumping on Manny's tusk. Maybe the tiger isn't that bad in the end. 

"Come on, guys. Stick together. It's easy to get lost in here." Said Diego after a while. I looked if we are all together, but I can't seem to find Sid. 

"Hey, where's Sid?" 

"He must be wandering somewhere. He'll be here with us again in a moment." Manny said, unbothered our one member is missing, but he's right. It didn't take long until Sid joined us.

"Will you keep up, please? Hard enough to keep track of one baby." Suddenly the ice above Manny took me and the baby and we passed the boys by slidding forward. Before we fell down, the baby waved at boys and I clung to it.

(Imagine Rose clinging to the baby and cheering with it for the slide.)

Manny caught us and we hit a wall after Diego and Sid did, getting lost in pile of snow. Diego jumped out of the snow with me beside him, both of us hyped up.

"Yeah. Wo-hoo. Yeah! Who's for round two?" I high-fived the tiger with grin of my own and when we offered high-five to others, we recieved only glares and lowered our paws.

"Tell the kid and weasel to be more careful." 

"What did I do?!"

~❄️~

After a while we entered a cave with no track of snow, the walls covered in drawings of different types of animals and humans hunting. I have this feeling I used to do something similar for someone, but I have no memory of it so I can't really say if that's true.

"Look. Look. Tigers." Sid pointed to a drawing of sabers chasing antelopes. The baby squirmed in his eyes at the sight. "No, It's ok. It's ok. Look the tigers are just playing tag with the antelope. With their teeth." Diego walked behind Sid.

"Come on Sid, lets play tag - you're it." I only shook my head at them. 

"Ok, ok. Where are sloths? You know. You never see any sloth in these things. Have you noticed?" Sid said, moving around and scanning the walls in attempt to find at least one of his kind, and so do I.

"Well, you won't find a weasel at those neither, so you're not alone." 

"Oh look, Manny! A mammoth." Sid pointed to a drawing of 3 mammoths, two being adults and the third probably their baby.

"Uuh. Somebody paint me." Manny rolled his eyes and joined us, along with Diego who appeared on my right. 

"Hey, hey this fat one looks just like you. Oh, he's got a family. Oh, he's happy. Look he is playing with this kid." Manny stood next to Sid and looked at the drawing with emotion I yet didn't have the chance to see. "See Manny that's your problem. That's what mammoths are supposed to do."

"Sid." Diego tried to shut the sloth up from rambling. 

"Find the female, have the little baby mammoth..."

"Sid, shut up!" At my warning tone he finally fell silent and followed our gaze at Manny. The mammoth stared wide-eyed at the drawing, and something tells me flashes of his memories are showing before his eyes, tears filling them. 

He walked over to the drawing and ran his trunk over the baby mammoth, until his trunk ran in the baby's small chubby hand and looked at him. The baby tried to walk, but only fell into Manny's trunk and he picked him up. They stared at one another for a moment before Manny pulled him to his face in hug. 

When I puzzle two and two together, it fills my eyes with tears too. Humans has killed his family for their own good and that's why Manny want to be alone. He doesn't want to get attached to anybody out of fear he will lose them just like he lost his mate and child. And now the human baby reminds him of times when he had one of his own, feeling like he's supposed to be the protective father he used to be. 

Manny then placed the baby on his back and Sid, later along with Diego, followed him out. But I stayed, looking back at the picture with questions and wonder. Do or did I have a family of my own? I wish I could remember. 

"Rose, are you alright?" I'm snapped back to reality by Diego nudging me, concern in his green eyes. Since a when he cares? And this is maybe the first time he called me by my real name. 

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

"Why you even asking? It's not like you care in real, or do you?" This time I'm the one that asked, tilting my head to side with frown.

"Pfft, no. Of course not. I was just asking." He scoffed, yet his eyes are saying otherwise. Why do I have this feeling under that fur of his is redness taining his cheeks.

"Sure." I said quietly with smirk crawling on my face. 

"Come on, idiot." Oh, he's back. Nevermind. Taking a last look at the drawing and the whole cave, I ran after my friends.