chapter one: Change of plans

Alrighty. As you can see this is my first time typing and uploading one of my fan fictions. This is an ice age fandom that takes place after the third film. If you don't like ocxcanon then this isn't the fan fic for you, I suggest you turn around right now and walk away then this fanfic contains ocxEddie, DiegoxOc, and SidxOC. Just to summarize the story it's basically the gang heading south and encounters other Saber tooth tigers, pakicetus, Wolves, Thylacosmilus, terror birds, Bears and sharks. I hope you enjoy chapter one of the epic migration. Until then, peace out.

It was a freezing night, the ground full of snow (it was the middle of winter). A small herd of seven settled in a large cave to rest until morning. They've been traveling all day, getting closer and closer to their destination; the south. Since winter came by, the cold temperature makes food hard to find, also barely any food at all. The two mammoths of the herd, Manfred and Ellie have an offspring they need to feed, little Peaches who was only 3 months old. After her birth, Manny grew more kind but he still had a temper.

"Daddy. Are we gonna be thaw by tommawo?"Asked the calf with childlike innocence as she cuddled between her parents. "No sweetie. Your mother and I already told you the trip takes about a week."Manfred answered his daughter. Peaches looked disappointed and impatient "But a week is a loooong wait!" Peaches complained with a pout on her face. Manfred sighed, not knowing if he should block her voice out. Ellie smiled and wrapped her trunk around Peaches "the wait is worth it. Trust me baby." She spoke soothingly which made the young calf calm down abit. "Okay mommy." Peaches said with a sigh. "Now go to sleep." Manny yawned.

Diego and Sid looked at the mammoth family from their sleeping spot "Manny is lucky. He met a nice girl mammoth and they had a nice kid." Sid thought out loud. Diego smirked "yeah. He did well I guess." Was his answer as he closed his eyes to sleep. Sid yawned "I'm happy for them, anyway-"he yawned"-good night." And feel asleep also. Crash and Eddie scurried up Ellie's back and slept on her. The mammoth's fur kept the possums warm for the night and served them as a blanket. And that's how they spent almost every other night, in those same spots. Diego sleeping at the entrance, Sid sleeping on a rock he found, also the mammoths and possums sleeping together.

At sunrise, the first one up was Peaches, as always. She began to poke her father with her trunk "daddy wake up, am hungry." she persisted. Manfred yawned "what is it sweetie?" he asked tiredly. Peaches was enthusiastic and lively, like every morning "I want food! I want food!" she demanded as she wrapped her trunk on her father's and tried to lead him out of the cave, but Manfred was still laying down which caused the calf to stomp in place "whoa, whoa kiddo, wait up. " Manny chuckled as he got up and fallowed his daughter outside.

Sid woke up and saw the mammoths leaving "where are you going, Manny?" he asked while stretching and yawning. "Going to find Peaches some food. Tell Ellie when she wakes up." The father mammoth said as he and his daughter disappeared from Sid's sight.

Ellie woke up and gently picked up her brothers from her back with her trunk and placed them on the floor next to her and then got up quietly and made her way out of the cave. Sid saw the female mammoth and waved at her" Good morning Ellie." he smiled with his crooked teeth. Ellie waved back at the sloth with her trunk"Mornin' Sid, have you seen Peaches and Manny?" she asked. "Yeah, they went looking for food." He answered. "Do you know when they'll be back?" Ellie questioned. "Nope. But hopefully soon." Sid replied.

Ellie sighed and went back into the cave, lying down next to her 'brothers'. She wished Manfred and Peaches waited for her to go with them. She was in deep thought, only to have a yawn distract her. It was Diego who had woken up and was stretching his legs. "good morning Diego." Ellie said with a small smile hidden behind her trunk. Diego smiled back" Morning Ellie. Well, I'm off to go hunting. I'll see you guys later." He said as he left the cave and ran into a nearby wooded area which was just by the mountains.

Sid was outside of the cave collecting wood for the fire. They planned to stay there until noon so the sloth decided to get something to keep them warm. One by one he picked up small twigs that would barely keep a fire alive. Sid looked up at the wooded area where his friend Diego left to go earlier, an area full of tall pine trees and probably had more flammable wood in there.

The sloth wobbled into the forest with the twigs in his claws and then dropped the pitiful sticks when he saw large logs and chunks of wood on the forest floor, quickly he began to grab as much as he could carry. Then as he bent over to get one more piece of wood, he felt like someone or something was watching his every move. Sid gulped, fearing the worst. The strange mammal turned around timidly, only to find a pile of snow behind him. Sid chuckled in relief, turning around to the final stick he needed.

He began to walk out of the forest slowly, looking at his surroundings. Maybe paranoiac sloth was just imagining things, or maybe not. Sid was dropping a few logs as he speed walked, then broke out into running when he heard a twig snap. Soon he was hearing the sound of paws running in the snow behind him.

"Diego! Manny! Help!" The frighten sloth yelled as he waved his arms into the air as he ran, dropping all of the fire wood to the ground. Diego, who was nearby, heard Sid's cries for help. The tiger ran towards the screams of panic.

The sloth was running in a zig zag formation around the pine trees, trying to elude who or whatever was chasing him. Sid dared not to look back at any moment, his only focus and main goal was to get out alive and in one piece. He was running out of breathe and was starting to get tired, then he saw an empty den, thinking he lost his stalker; the sloth hid in the small cave. He was nervous but sighed in relief after a few seconds of silence, but that did not last long. Sid could hear someone approaching the den. He gulped, praying it wasn't the predator that was chasing him. As the figure approached him, he saw it was an adolescent smilodon, fur similar to a snow leopard's but structure of a saber tooth, also smaller than Diego. The sloth was starting to panic and let out one of his strange screams. The grayish smilodon was about to pounce, but was pushed out of the way by an older, larger smilodon.

"That was my lunch!" hissed the smaller smilodon. By the sound of the adolescent's voice, the young saber appears to be a female. "Listen cub, you shouldn't eat junk food."Diego replied as he blocked the entrance to the den where Sid was hiding. The young female grumbled and then began to smirk as a brownish smilodon, about her size, pounces on older smilodon. Diego shoved the dark furred adolescent off him and onto the other "where the hell are the parents of these kids?" he shouted as he looked at the younger sabers who were piled on each other. The grey spotted female struggled to get the brown smilodon off of her.

Sid peeked his head out of the den, seeing what was going on. Diego was snarling at the adolescents, glaring at them" the sloth is with me." He said firmly, still staring down at them. Both youngsters know not to mess with a full grown adult, at least, not alone that is; but Diego would tear them apart if he had to go against the two in combat. The adolescents hesitated and trembled as they were under the larger tiger's glare. Sid saw them trembling and then found them in a way, cute and helpless" c'mon Diego, cut them some slack. After all, they're kids, right?" the sloth said as he exited the den, looking at his carnivorous friend. Diego rolled his eyes"Sid, ya know sabers travel in packs, right?" he said as he looked at the sloth who was defending the smaller sabers who wanted to kill him earlier. Sid had a dumbfounded look on his face" really? So… there are bigger ones of these c'mon our way?" the sloth asked nervously, gnawing on his claw; franticly looking at his surroundings. Diego smirked sarcastically and nodded "yup. Looks like our plans of stayin' here until noon is canceled." He then glared back at the young saber tooths and snarled. They flinched in fear, stiffening their muscles; the fur from the back of their neck standing up straight.

"P-please mister…Don't hurt us…" whimpered the female as the brown adolescent slowly got off her and was crouching down with his ears folded back, showing respect and fear. Diego smirked, feeling like he was in control (which he was)"I won't. Well, as long as you leave my friend alone." He said with authority, raising his head, snorting. The younger smilodons nodded nervously, looking up at the older tiger "Yes sir."

Diego stared down at them "Leave. NOW!" he roared. It frightens the adolescent sabers and caused then to run back to where they came from in panic. Diego smirked a little as he watched them coward away. Sid crossed his arms "I don't think that was very nice, Diego." said the sloth. The tiger looked at his friend with a sly smile on his face, feeling accomplished "well, at least your now off they're menu." He answered as he began to walk back to where the herd was. Sid fallowed behind and asked "so ya think they'll be back with more sabers?"

Diego looked back at the sloth "most likely. We gotta warn the others and get a move on." Was his reply as they walked out of the forest and made their way to the cave. They noticed that Manny and Peaches were back, but looks like they couldn't find any food. Sid and Diego walked up to Manny who was with his mate, Ellie and their daughter, Peaches. The sloth poked the mammoth's nose and said "Boy do we got news for you."

Manfred looked at Sid as he took his trunk away from the sloth's reach "this better be good, Sid." He said firmly; hate being interrupted from spending time with his family. "There are other saber tooths around here so we gotta get going now." said Diego as he sat between them. Manny looked at the tiger and his face harden and then whispered, not wanting to worry Ellie, the possums and Peaches "are you sure?"

Diego nodded "Yup. I'll lead the way just to keep us on the safest route possible." he assured the mammoth. Manfred looked at him and then at Ellie who was holding Peaches up with her trunk, making the little calf giggle, this softens his expression. He was thinking about everyone's safety; also remembering the first (and hopefully last) time he fought sabers, something he wishes not to do again. The mammoth's gaze turned back to Diego's "alright. But not a word about this to the others. I don't wanna spook them." He said sternly, his face hardening again as he looked at the tiger and sloth "Got it." They both said.

Manny walked up to the others "change of plans ever body. Looks like we're going to have to head out right now." He announced. Ellie looked a bit surprised "why?" she asked curiously as she looked at her mate. Manfred tried to think of a good excuse "Because….um… if we don't leave now, most of the good fruit there will be gone?" he finally said. Sid tapped the tips of his claws together and –oohed, buying Manny's lie"really?" he asked hopefully as he looked up at his mammoth friend. Diego wacked the sloth and glared at him with a face that said shut it. "Ouch! Hey, what was that for!" Sid said as he rubbed the back of his head. The tiger toned out Sid as he looked at Manfred and the others. Eddie and Crash looked at each other, thinking "he is right, the sooner we get there, the more food we can get to before other animals do."Eddie shrugged as both brothers came to an agreement and then looked at Ellie who also agreed. They all looked at Manny "alright, let's go big guy." Ellie said with a smile as she playfully punched Manfred's shoulder with her trunk as she walked ahead of him. The herd began to head towards the mountains, which was the only route to take to get to the south. Eddie and Crash hopped onto Ellie's back for a ride as they began to journey. Peaches was walking between her parents and Sid was walking along side Diego who was leading them the safest way possible since they were walking through the place where Diego and Sid earlier found the adolescent saber tooths.

And that wraps up chapter one folks, but that's not all :P. anyway please review and tell me what you think so far.