Ice Age: The Misfit Herd

Safety For The Night

It felt nearly alien when I woke back up... my eyes fluttered and my heart started beating fast. I was both afraid and relieved whenever I saw the forest nearby. How long had I passed out?? Did we make it out alive from that death trap??? 

Or am I really dead...?

"You're not dead, Jade."

"Oh, that's good." I sighed, relaxing until I realized who said that. I glanced up to see it was Diego who I was leaning up against, staring down at me with a look I never seen on his face before. "Before you say anything... what the heck happened after the rocks collapsed?"

"Well everyone scrambled to safety, I nearly died but didn't clearly thanks to Manny and Ellie working together to bring me back up and then we stopped and made camp right now. You've been out for a good... hour or two? I would say atleast."

"WAIT DIED??!" Yep, that was the part I was most worried about.

"Let's just say I was the farthest from anyone to completely make it safely across- the leap I took would've had me falling down the death rail had they not ran over and wrapped their trunks around my arms."

Died... that word kept repeating in my head over and over and the flashes of two years ago came back... when he sacrificed himself to protect me from Soto and we all thought he was gone for good. I couldn't take my memory off of seeing a lifeless body of him and my breathing started to go ragged.... and I couldn't control my panting.

"Jade? Jade- Jade!" Diego's voice was once again distant almost like a ghostly memory with the picture my mind created of seeing his lifeless dead body. Before I knew it, I was pulled back and my face was buried into darkness, the scent of his fur filling my nose in an instant. "Breathe Jade.... breathe. Take a deep breath in-" Hearing him did so, I unconsciously did it too. "And breathe out." I followed him and released a shaky breath. "Take a deep breath in- then out." 

We did it together for seven more times before my heart slowly went back down from fear though this time, it was beating weirdly... not from fear but from something else. And that weird feeling in my stomach came back- this time it intensifying to feel like tiny butterflies were fluttering around in there. Sloth to all mighty, what is wrong with me??!

"Jade..." I could only then snap out of my mode when I felt Diego's paw run over the side of my face.

"I'm... s-sorry..." I apologized in a shaky voice, "I'm sorry... D-Diego... I just..." I buried my face into his side more and sniffled, "After what happened last time... wi-with Soto... I don't want to lose you... I don't want to ever see you die... I need you here... alive... I just... need you." 

Need... that was certainly the first time I ever told any animal that really... Need. Yet for some reason- it didn't feel as unnatural as it sounded. Diego had definitely grown on me over time to the point where I relied on him more than I should but yet... it didn't leave a weird feeling on my tongue to say I needed him... 

Maybe Diego did something that others couldn't and haven't- then again he's the first animal in history I told about my insecurities of being seen as a weak saber just because I'm deathly afraid of heights- as shown by the lovely incident just now with the Mountain Jenga Fiasco. Not to mention, he's the first animal to lay his life down for me even after not knowing me longer then atleast four days at the max.

Still, the reason why he gave me such feelings with the erratic beating of my heart and the strange butterfly flutter in my stomach is still unexplainable. I only wish I knew what these feelings were called but I had absolutely no idea in the entire world what they were... not even the slightest clue in history. Maybe someone here did? But exactly who I could tell was a mystery at this point.