Chapter Text
A numerous amount of prehistoric animals were migrating south to escape the coming ice age.
Well... almost all of them.
Two animals moved against the flow.
Manny the woolly mammoth and Kiara the dire wolf.
An unlikely pair, yet they walked side by side through the crowded path, forcing the migrating animals to move out of their way. Confusion, fear, and frustration filled the air as creatures stepped aside to avoid being crushed—or, in Kiara's case, possibly eaten. Many muttered complaints, wondering why a mammoth and a wolf would head toward danger instead of away from it.
Kiara glanced up at Manny. His expression was as irritable as ever. She swallowed the comment forming in her mouth and looked forward again.
A voice called out from the crowd.
"Hey! Do the world a favor! Move your issues off the road!"
Kiara's ears pressed back as Manny stopped and looked down at a male Palaeotherium.
"If my trunk was that small," Manny replied dryly, "I wouldn't draw attention to myself, pal."
The father trembled. "Give me a break. We've been waddlin' all day."
Manny glanced at the mother and their two children before looking back at him. "Oh, go ahead. Follow the crowd. It'll be quieter when you're gone."
He continued walking, Kiara moving beside him.
Behind them, the father muttered,
"If they want to freeze to death, let them."
Kiara's eyes narrowed.
In a flash, she turned, leaping over the family and landing in front of them with a low growl.
"You got something to say?"
"N—no!" the male stammered.
"Come on, Kiara," Manny called calmly. "If they want to be scorched to death, let 'em."
Kiara didn't move at first. Then she smirked.
"Aw," she said lightly, "but I'm pretty hungry."
The family bolted past her in panic.
Kiara straightened and trotted back to Manny's side. The two exchanged a knowing smirk as they continued walking against the endless current of animals.
They left the commotion behind, the press of animals thinning as the path sloped upward. The white light of the overcast morning sharpened along the ridge, bleaching the frosted grass, and the sky felt wider. Here, the only sounds were their own footfalls and the faint, endless groan of the glacier creeping over the valley.
Kiara pawed at the ground, then hopped onto a boulder slick with lichen. "We should go up," she said, tipping her nose toward the highest point of the hill, where a lone, dead tree clawed the sky.
Manny didn't break stride. "Let me guess. You want to see if anyone gets trampled in the herd panic."
She flashed a smile, all teeth. "You know me so well, big brother."
They climbed in silence, the city of beasts behind them shrinking into a shuffling, shivering smear. At the summit, the wind hit them with the sharp tang of ice and mud. Kiara could see the entire valley laid bare: a sluggish, brown river in the middle distance, black herds like inkblots on the snow, and above it all the glacier, shining and indifferent, swallowing mountains as it went.
"I want to see it when the river cracks," Kiara said, settling into the drift at Manny's feet.
He reached for a retort—something about wolves and morbid curiosity—but stopped himself. Her blue eyes were fixed on the river with predatory focus, but Manny knew what she was really watching: the border between life as they knew it, and the world after the freeze.
He grunted. "It won't be long. And then what?"
Kiara shrugged, fluffing her fur against the cold. "Then we find out if the other side is as bad as everyone says."
She didn't say it, but Manny knew: the real question was whether they would end up there together, or if the ice would pick them off one by one, like the old stories promised.
Down in the valley, a cluster of animals broke from the herd, bolting for the water. The ice at the edge fractured with a brittle retort, and Manny could just make out gleaming white shapes surging from beneath—a pack of saber-tooth salmon, jaws snapping, pulling a screaming glyptodon into the river.
Kiara flicked her tail, satisfied. "Told you. Never a dull moment."
Manny watched the silent aftermath unfold: the rest of the herd pressed forward, trampling the thin ice, desperate for the promise of water, their terror outweighing the memory of the kill. He wondered if it was stupidity, or just hope, that kept them moving.
He nudged Kiara with his trunk, almost gentle. "Don't get any ideas."
"As if I'd ever," she replied, her voice airy. But already her gaze had jumped ahead, scanning for the next weak spot, the next show of chaos.
The sun never pierced the clouds, but the light changed—something silvery and bleak. For a moment, neither spoke. There was nothing to say about the end of the world, and too much to say about how it might be survived.
Manny said, without looking back, "Let's keep moving."
Kiara rose and followed her adoptive brother.
Soon the slope gave way to a dry, windswept plateau where the sun had burned off even the stubborn patches of snow. Here, the land tilted sharply and then fell away in a sheer cliff, the river and its chaos far below. Kiara bolted for the ledge, paws skidding on the grit, and planted herself at the rim, her chest heaving with satisfaction.
Manny didn't stop her—he knew she liked the height, the view, the quiet. He followed at a slower pace.
"Finally, some quiet," Kiara muttered, her voice lost in the wind.
It lasted all of three seconds. Then Manny jerked as something brushed past his ankle. "Hey!" he rumbled, swinging his trunk around.
A spindly, russet-haired creature sprawled at Manny's feet, all elbows and panic. It took Manny a moment to recognize the beast—one of those pathetic ground sloths, the kind that usually got picked off before adulthood by the first hungry bird of prey.
The ground sloth shook his head, blinking, then nervously bit one of his claws before scrambling up and ducking behind them.
Kiara watched with bland amusement, tilting her head at the sloth's performance. Behind them, she caught the thunder of approaching hooves. Two brontotheres—rhinos, in the local parlance, though the real ones had died off ages ago—charged up the path, their enormous heads low, their breath kicking up dust with each step. Kiara frowned, not out of fear for herself, but out of embarrassment for any predator that ran from such slow-witted, one-track-minded prey.
The sloth hunched lower, peering up at Manny and Kiara. "Just pretend I'm not here," he whispered.
Manny attempted to shuffle aside to get a look at the creature latched onto his back leg, but the thing clung like a burr.
The rhinos skidded to a stop a few feet away, dust billowing from their massive feet.
The rhino on the left whined, "Aw, man. I wanted to hit him at full speed."
"That's okay, Frank," the other rhino said, nudging him. "We'll have some fun with him."
The ground sloth threw himself behind Manny's hind leg and clung with all four limbs, face contorted in a mask of comic terror. "Don't let them impale me. Please, I want to live!"
Manny shot him a look of pure irritation. "Get off."
He lifted his leg and shook sharply, sending the sloth tumbling into the snow.
The rhino on the right snorted. "Come on. You're making a scene."
Frank stepped forward, eyeing Manny and Kiara. "We'll just take our furry piñata and go if ya don't mind."
Manny glanced down at the trembling sloth. "Hey, buddy. If it's not them today, it's just someone else tomorrow."
The sloth peeked out from behind Manny's leg. "Well... I'd rather it not be today. Okay?"
The rhino on the right rolled his shoulders. "Look, we're gonna break your neck so you don't feel a thing. How's that?"
Kiara, who'd been observing this with the deadpan patience of one who'd seen every flavor of idiocy on the steppe, finally interjected. "I thought rhinos were vegetarians."
The sloth shot an arm into the air. "An excellent point!"
Manny gave him a steely look. "Shut up." The sloth's arm drooped to the ground, forlorn.
The rhino huffed. "Who said we were gonna eat him after we killed him?"
Frank smirked. "Yeah, come on, move it."
Kiara stepped forward, hackles lifting along her neck. A deep, unamused growl rumbled from her chest. "Or what?"
The air shivered with new tension. The rhinos, expecting easy violence, hesitated. They'd heard stories about dire wolves. Kiara's icy-blue eyes locked on Frank, unblinking.
Manny straightened his posture, settling his bulk with the slight, deliberate menace of a boulder repositioning itself on a mountainside. His gaze locked on the rhinos, steady and unimpressed. "You know," he said, the words slow and weighted, "I don't like animals that kill for pleasure."
The rhino on the right lashed his tail in irritation. "Save it for a mammal that cares," he snapped.
"I'm a mammal that cares!" the ground sloth piped up.
Manny and Kiara both looked at him.
Kiara's gaze dropped deliberately to the ground just ahead of the rhinos. Manny followed her line of sight, and understanding flickered between them.
He nodded almost imperceptibly before returning his attention to the brutes.
"Okay, look," Manny said calmly. "If either of you makes it across that sinkhole in front of you..."
Kiara's lips curved slightly. "You may have the ground sloth."
The sloth sprang forward, grabbing a rock. "That's right, ya losers! You take one step and you're dead!"
Manny and Kiara's eyes widened as he hurled the rock into the supposed sinkhole.
The stone bounced once.
Twice.
And settled harmlessly in plain sight.
The rhinos stared at it.
Then slowly lifted their heads, grinning.
Kiara lowered herself instinctively into a fighting stance, a warning growl vibrating from her chest.
"You two were bluffing, huh?" the sloth asked weakly.
Manny didn't take his eyes off the rhinos. "Yeah," he admitted. "Yeah, that was a bluff."
"Get 'em!"
The ground shook as the rhinos lunged forward.
Kiara sprang sideways just as Frank barreled past. The other rhino charged straight for Manny, head lowered, horn gleaming.
Manny didn't move until the last second.
With a sharp pivot, he swung one massive tusk upward. It caught the rhino beneath the chin and lifted him clean off his feet. The brute flipped backward with a startled bellow and crashed hard into the dirt.
Kiara didn't waste time admiring it.
Frank wheeled around, snorting, and charged at her. She darted low, fast—too quick for his bulk to follow. Her teeth snapped inches from his front leg, forcing him to jerk sideways to protect it. He spun clumsily, trying to keep her in front of him.
She lunged again, her claws raking along his thick hide just enough to sting.
Frank roared and charged again.
"Missed me," Kiara muttered, springing onto a rock and launching herself clear as he thundered past and skidded straight into the weakened ground.
The earth gave way beneath his weight.
With a howl of surprise, Frank dropped chest-first into the mud pit beyond, legs flailing.
Manny planted a heavy foot on the other rhino's back just as he tried to rise, shoving him forward into the same slick patch.
The two brutes slid away from them into the pit.
Silence settled.
Kiara stood tall at the edge of the pit, fur bristling but eyes cool. "Vegetarians," she said flatly.
Manny snorted.
The ground sloth cheer. "Woo-hoo! We did it! We did..."
The ground sloth jumped onto Manny's trunk, hugging it. The sudden extra force caused Manny to step a bit back, only to abruptly tumble down the cliff.
Kiara was down the slope before gravity finished its work. She found the ground sloth tangled around Manny's head like a drooping hat.
"You have beautiful eyes," the sloth said nervously.
Manny glared. "Get off my face."
He stood abruptly, and the sloth dropped into the snow with a soft thud.
Kiara padded closer. "You're okay?"
"Yes," Manny grumbled.
The sloth scrambled to his feet. "Whoa. The three of us. We make a great team! What do you say we head south together?"
Manny started walking away. "Great! Hey, yeah! Jump on one of our backs and relax the whole way."
Kiara followed him.
"Wow, really?" the sloth beamed.
Manny didn't look back. "No."
The sloth hurried after them. "Wait, aren't you two going south? The change of seasons, migration instincts. Any of this ringin' a bell?"
"Apparently not," Kiara replied dryly. "Have a nice day."
The sloth stopped, waving. "Okay then! Thanks for the help! I can take it from here!"
Kiara turned forward again. "Well," she said lightly, "that was fun."
Manny was about to answer when hurried footsteps echoed behind them. Kiara glanced back just as the sloth reappeared at their sides, grinning too widely.
"Oh-ho-ho-ho. That whole south thing is overrated. The heat, the crowds—who needs it? I mean, isn't this great? The three of us! Two bachelors and a bachelorette knockin' about in the wild!"
Manny stopped walking and turned slowly. "No. You just wanted bodyguards so you don't become somebody's side dish."
Kiara stifled a laugh and hummed in agreement.
The sloth pointed a claw at Manny. "You're a very shrewd mammal. Okay, you lead the way, Mr. Big... uh. Didn't get the name."
"Manfred."
The sloth made a face. "Manfred? Yuck. How about Manny the Moody Mammoth? Or Manny the Melancholy? Manny the—"
Manny turned sharply.
The sloth gasped and scrambled up a dead tree in panic.
Kiara watched, amused, as Manny wrapped his trunk around the trunk and pulled it downward until the sloth hung eye level with him.
"Stop following us," Manny said flatly.
He released the tree. It snapped back upright, wobbling violently.
The sloth slid down, dizzy. He shook his head before quickly following them. "Okay, so you've got issues. Look, you won't even know I'm here. I'll just zip the lip. And when I say 'mph,' I'm 'mph.'"
The sloth's gaze shifted to Kiara, studying her silver-gray fur and piercing blue eyes with newfound interest. He sidled closer to her, apparently deciding that the wolf might be more receptive than her mammoth companion.
"Say, I didn't catch your name, wolf lady," he said, gesturing dramatically with his claws. "Since we're traveling companions and all."
Kiara's ears flattened slightly at the sudden attention, but she maintained her composure. "Kiara," she replied simply, her icy-blue eyes regarding him with a mixture of amusement and wariness.
"Kiara! Beautiful name for a terrifying predator!" The sloth clasped his hands together.
Manny rolled his eyes. "Great, bye now," he rumbled, already turning to continue their journey away from the sloth and his incessant chatter.
Kiara watched Sid's face fall for a moment, and something in her—perhaps boredom, perhaps mischief—stirred. She smirked and looked directly at Sid. "But, if you can keep up, then you can go with us."
Manny stopped dead in his tracks and swung his massive head around. "What?" The single word carried enough annoyance to wither a small tree.
Sid's face transformed instantly. His eyes widened with delight, and a grin spread across his face that threatened to split it in two. He practically vibrated with excitement, bouncing on his toes.
"Oh, I can keep up! I can absolutely keep up! You won't even know I'm here—well, you'll know I'm here because I'll be right here, but I won't be a bother, not one bit!" He scurried forward, tripping over his own feet in his eagerness.
Manny bent down until his face was inches from Kiara's. "What are you doing?" he hissed under his breath.
She shrugged, her eyes glinting with amusement. "Entertainment," she whispered back. "Besides, he won't last long. The first sign of trouble and he'll run screaming."
Manny straightened, eyeing the sloth who was now attempting—and failing—to march in step beside them. "You're taking responsibility for him. When he gets eaten, I don't want to hear about it."
"Fair enough," Kiara agreed easily, knowing full well that her brother's gruff exterior hid a stubborn protective streak. He wouldn't let anything happen to the sloth, no matter how annoying he found him.
Sid, oblivious to their exchange, had launched into a detailed account of his life story, complete with dramatic gestures that nearly sent him tumbling down the path several times.