Human of the Herd

Chapter 1

Frostine sat on top of Manny as the mammoth traveled through the animals as they traveled for migration. She noticed how some animals looked at her and tried to lower herself to hide in Manny's fur. Frostine sat up when Manny stopped.

"Hey, do the world a favor! Move your issues off the road!" An animal shouted at Manny.

Manny lowered his tusks towards the animal. "If my trunk were that small, I wouldn't draw attention to myself, pal,"

The animal stumbled backward. "Give me a break." He whimpered. "We...We've been waddlin' all day,"

Frostine glanced at the animal's family as the children cowered behind their mother.

"Oh, go ahead." Manny huffed. "Follow the crowd. It'll be quieter when you're gone,"

"Ah, come on. If he wants to freeze to death, let him," The animal told his family.

Manny shook his head and lifted his trunk. "Alright, time to stretch your legs,"

Frostine stretched once her feet touched the ground, only to hide behind Manny's legs when the mammoth glanced behind him.

"Hey!"

Frostine glanced behind Manny and noticed a sloth getting away from two raging rhinos.

"Just pretend that I'm not here," The sloth told the mammoth.

"Man, I wanted to hit him at full speed," One of the Rhinos whined.

"That's okay, Frank. We'll have some fun with him," The other Rhino proclaimed.

Manny moved to turn to face the rhinos, ensuring he was blocking Frostine.

"Hey!" Frostine exclaimed when the sloth came up next to her.

The sloth clung to Frostine. "Don't let them impale me. Please. I want to live!"

"Get off her!" Manny used his trunk to push the sloth off Frostine.

"Come on. You're making a scene," A rhino told the sloth.

"Uh-huh. We'll take our furry piñata and go if you don't mind," Frank told Manny.

"Hey, buddy, if not's them today, it's just someone else tomorrow," Manny told the sloth.

"Well, I'd rather it not be today, okay?" The sloth reasoned.

"Look, we're going to break your neck so you don't feel a thing. How's that?" A Rhino reasoned with the sloth.

Frostine quirked an eyebrow. "Wait a minute. I thought rhinos were vegetarians,"

"An excellent point," The sloth agreed.

"Shut up," Manny snapped.

"Who says we're gonna eat him after we kill him?"

Frostine clung to Manny at the thought.

"You know, I don't like animals that kill for pleasure," Manny said.

"Save it for a mammal that cares," The rhino hissed.

"I'm a mammal that cares," The sloth said.

Manny used his trunk to place Frostine back safely on his back. "Okay, look, if either of you make it across that sinkhole in front of you, you get the sloth,"

"That's right, you losers. You take one step, and you're dead!" The sloth exclaimed as he tossed a pinecone at the "sinkhole." The sloth realized his mistake when the pinecone didn't sink. "You were bluffing, huh?"

"Yeah. Yeah, that was a bluff," Manny admitted.

"Get him!" The Rhinos exclaimed as they charged towards the mammals.

Manny used his tusks to hold the rhinos back.

The sloth screamed as the group was pushed back, and he was hanging off the edge of a cliff.

Manny used his strength and pushed the rhinos back, flinging them in the air.

The sloth cheered before screaming for cover once the rhinos got back up.

Manny charged forward, hooked his tusk into one of the Rhino's tusks, and flung him into the air. He could pick up the other rhino entirely and flung him as well.

"Whoo-hoo! We did it! We did it!" The Sloth cheered. He hugged Manny's trunk, but Manny was too close to the edge and began to slide off the cliff.

Frostine held on tightly to the mammoth's fur as they slid backward. She opened her eyes once they had stopped moving and found herself looking at the sloth.

"You have beautiful eyes," The sloth told her.

"Get off my face," Manny told the Sloth.

"Whoa." As he slid off Manny's trunk, the sloth said, "You and me, we make a great team. I mean, whattaya say we just head south together,"

"Great. Yeah, jump up on my back and relax the whole way," Manny said sarcastically.

"Wow, really?"

"No," Frostine replied.

"Wait. Aren't you going south? The change of seasons? Migration instincts? Any of this ringin' a bell?"

"I guess not." Frostine shrugged. "Bye,"

"Okay, then. Thanks for the help. I can take it from here,"

Within seconds, the sloth was back following Manny and Frostine.

"Whoa! That whole South thing is way overrated," The Sloth declared. "The heat, the crowds. Who needs it? I mean, isn't this great? You, me, and a kid, two bachelors and a kid knocking about in the wild,"

"No, you just want a bodyguard so you don't become somebody's side dish," Manny argued.

"You're a very shrewd mammal," The sloth pointed out. "Okay, then you lead the way. Mr. Big, uh...I didn't get the name,"

"Manifred," Frostine replied. "And I'm Frostine,"

"How about Manny, the Moody Mammoth?" The sloth gasped in fright and hurried up a tree trunk when Manny glared at him.

Manny pulled the trunk back. "Stop following us,"

"Okay, okay, so you've got issues. Look, you won't even know I'm here. I'll zip the lip. 'Cause when I say mmm, I'm mmm,"