Let Me Be Free || Guy! || ✔️

Chapter Six

The rest of the Croods stood in awe at the scene before them. The new beautiful world. In the far off distance there was a mountain. Before that, there was hills covered in trees, lakes, rivers. Animals roaming through the grass.  "We should go there!" Ila went to jump off the cliff, beaming with excitement but Grug caught her quickly He steadied her back on the ground and held her down. 

"No. No one is going anywhere." He said, sniffing the air. Ila pouted and crossed her arms, disappointed. "What else did that boy say?" he asked, glancing at the two girls. As Ila was about to reply, a creature swooped over their heads, a Turtle Dove. The group was backing away as it flew, watching as it flew away. They heard a low growl, familiar and dangerous from behind them. Grug instinctively grabbed a giant boulder and rolled it in front of his family. The Bear Owl, charging towards the family, whacked it away. The Croods ran as fast as they could, towards the new world. 

"Grug?" Ugga asked, huffing as they reached the edge of the cliff. 

"Just go! Go! Go!" They all jumped from the cliff, tumbling down a steep jungle hill. Once they finally landed on the ground, they all laid there, trying to catch their breaths. Grug quickly shot up and glanced around for the Bear Owl. But it was no where in sight. Ila stood as she awed at their surroundings, eyes sparkling. "One, two, three, four, five, six-" Grug began counting the family members, stopping when he realized Gran wasn't anywhere in sight. His eyes lit up as he grinned. Is she gone? Really really gone?

Nope. Gran grunted as she landed in a heap behind him. "Seven." He huffed. 

"Oh....Where are we?" Gran asked as she groaned in pain from her hard landing. 

Grug looked up, taking the new place in. "I don't know. I'm not sure." He grumbled as he stood up. "Done. In a lower place. One thing's for sure, we can't go back the way we came."

Sandy sniffed the air, growling as she searched in the bushes. "Sandy? What is it?" Ugga asked in a whisper. Sandy dashed at something almost disppearing into a bush. Grug quickly grabbed her by the leg and pulled her back. She had a Mousephant dangling from her mouth, causing Grug to know it from her mouth with disgust. A group of Mousephants ran out from the bush and ran away from the group. 

"We can't be out in the open like this. We need a cave. Now step where I step." Grug whispered as he slowly started walking. Everyone stepped exactly where he stepped except for Ila. She rolled her eyes as she walked behind everyone, awing at the trees and the flowers. She hoped they didn't find a cave, not ever. She wanted to explore. She wanted to be free. Maybe she could find Guy and he could take her away. 

"Wait." Grug said from the front of the line, making everyone stop. "Okay." He continued walking before saying "Wait." again. This went on for a few minutes, irritating Ila. The Croods moved cautiously through the forest as Ila trailed behind them. 

Thunk broke the silence, walking right behind his dad. "So, Dad. Just to be clear, are we looking for the exact same cave? If it was me, I'm just throwing it out there, if it was me choosing the cave," he turned around when he heard some screeches behind, only to find some 'yellow fruits' hanging from a tree branch. Shrugging, he turned back around and continued talking. "I would go with a smaller cave."

Grug ignored his sons talking as he stopped. "Wait." He tensed when he saw a punch Monkey sitting on a branch, chewing on who knows what. The whole family stopped behind him, eyeing the monkey cautiously. 

"Dad?" Thunk questions, fear evident in his voice as they were surrounded. 

"I'll take care of this." Grug assured him. He launched forward and came face to face with the Punch Monkey. "WWWAAAAARRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!" He roared, trying to scare it. But there was no reaction from the monkey. 

"Uh, I don't think that was a good idea Grug." Ila said as she watched the monkey grin evilly. It spit out something before punching Grug in the face. He reeled back, surprised, and turned right into another monkey. It punched him and he stumbled into another. 

"Alright dad. Go get 'em!" Thunk cheered his father on. "Now they're really hitting you. Dad I got it, just stop running into their fists."

Grug stumbled towards Gran who punched him in the face. She laughed, enjoying the scene. "Ha. I love this."

Ila and Eep were giggling, keeping their distance from the monkeys. "Grug, when you're done, we should get going." Ugga stated annoyed. Suddenly the monkey's froze. They let go of Grug and began to run away without reason. Grug staggered backwards into the family. 

Ila watched the monkey's run away, confused. Why would they just randomly stop. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand. It felt as if something was watching them from behind. She glanced behind her as Grug was laughing, dusting dirt from his clothes. Ila's eyes widened as she saw a giant colorful cat creature slowly stalk out from behind the trees. "Uh....Grug."

Grug chuckled as he turned to her. "What-" he stopped when a loud ROAR cut him off. A Macawnivore growled towards the family. Grug threw a rock at it but it caught the rock in it's paw. The Croods gasped, wide eyed. "Climb. Climb!" Grug pushed and forced the group up a huge tree. But from the movement on it's back, it began to move. It wasn't a tree but an Ostrich. The Croods held tight as the Ostrich lead them out of the forest. Grug glanced around before noticed an entrance to a cave. "CAVE! GO! GO!." Everyone jumbed off in hopes of getting to the cave. "Come on!" 

Ila slowed her pace as the Croods rushed towards the cave. She didn't want to be stuck in one again. "Come on Ila!" Grug yelled as they all ran in. But the cave slammed shut, making Ila scream. The Croods had ran inside of a Land Whale's mouth. 

"Hey look! Thus cave has a tongue. Awesome!" Thunk exclaimed from inside the Whale. 

Ila watched as the Whale's eyes opened. It stood up and spit the family out through its blow hole. Everyone landed on the ground as Ila ran over to them. "Okay. That's one, two, three, four, five, six...seven.." Grug counted and finished the last number with disappointment. 

Gran turned around and pointed behind them. "And eight....if we're counting Chunky the Death Cat." 

The Macawnivore appeared from behind nearby grass, eyeing the Croods as it gets ready to launch at them. Suddenly, the shadow of the setting sky passed over it. The giant cat freaked out, mewing like. a scared cat and ran back into the forest. "Hah! It's scared of the dark......" Thunk stopped when he realized. "Wait....we're scared of the dark."

The family looked back and saw all the land whales closing their mouths. A small Piranha Owl flew from the grass. Then, a swarm of them flew from all around. They swarmed over the Croods like a huge bird. Everyone watched in awe, curious as to what these were. The Owls latched themselves onto a massive land whale and moments later, they flew back into the air. The whale was skeletonized. The whales skeleton crumbled to the ground as the family gasped in fear. "Kill Circle!!" Grug ordered. The family formed their defensive circle as the swarm of Owls flew in the air. 

Ila watched the birds in fear. She knew they weren't going to make it if they couldn't find shelter. She noticed a skull lying in the sand a few feet away from the group. She rushed towards it, ignoring everyone screaming her name. She broke the horn from the skull and blew on it loud. 

"Help us....Guy."