The Herd's Growing Family (Ice Age)

Family Members New & Old

(A/N: Guess what won the vote! It looks like Redwood will be...

GETTING A ROMANTIC PARTNER!!! 💖 YAY!!!

They'll be appearing soon but until then, here we are in the future and it's different. Also, that scene where Scrat falls through the mountain and sees Buck, just imagine Avery with him).

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A few years have passed since the whole dinosaur incident happened. And a lot has changed since then.

Avery was no longer around, and while the herd had moved on from her decision to leave, they still miss her and remember her fondly. After all, she was their closest friend that stood with them the longest. Plus, her sassiness and maturity was nice to have once in a while.

As for Redwood, she has been going through some changes herself. She's becoming more stronger, both physically and emotionally. However despite this, she's still very much a teenager (17 years) and often has her moments reminding the others about that through a few mindless mistakes. But unbeknownst to some, her 18th birthday was around the corner and she would officially become an adult very soon.

Speaking of teenagers, Peaches, the herd's newest addition, was currently at the age of carefree teens. She and Redwood got along well and the two felt like actual sisters. However, until this point, helping Manny raise her was more difficult than expected, as she acted a bit differently compared to when Redwood was younger. It also didn't help with Manny being so overprotective of her all the time.

All of this was hard to get used to at first, but the herd learned to adapt and make the best of it. And so far, it really feels like these changes wouldn't be so bad after all...

That is... until something else new came along...

A loud rumbling noise was heard from the distance. In fact, it was so loud, it was actually enough to wake up Manny while he was sleeping.

"Huh? What was that?!" He spoke in a panic. "Ellie, did you hear that?"

"I heard it, Manny. Whatever it is, it's miles away", she calmly tells him.

"Peaches, Redwood, you two all right?" Manny walks over to a tree branch where he assumes Peaches would be. Unfortunately for him, she isn't there. And just as bad, Redwood wasn't anywhere near the tree either. "Where are they? No teenagers are ever up early."

Ellie chuckles. "Easy warden, they're not on lockdown".

Not really trying to relax about this, Manny heads over to Crash and Eddie, who are still asleep, and wakes them both up with a slap, causing them to spin and get tangled up.

"You two were supposed to be responsible uncles!" Manny scolds them.

"What?" Crash exclaims. "I didn't see Peaches sneak off maybe 15-20 minutes ago."

"Or that she went and dragged Redwood with Louis to the falls", Eddie added before giggling nervously with Crash.

"The falls? Where the delinquents go?" Manny says upsettingly.

"Relax, it's just where the kids hang out", Ellie tries to calm him down.

Unsurprisingly it doesn't work, and instead, Manny makes the thought of it worse. "No, no, it's a gateway hangout. First, it's the falls, then she's piercing her trunk, and the next thing you know she's addicted to berries! This is the reason we didn't allow Redwood to be with the other kids!"

"Manny! You are overreacting. They're not going to be your little girls forever", Ellie tells him.

"I know. That's what worries me". Manny frowns at the thought of both Peaches and Redwood both growing up and not needing him anymore.