Follow the Light

Chapter 1

A huge caveman, Grug,rushes forward, screaming, growling, and throwing handfuls of dirt in a threat display. He blinks in the light. He lifts and hurls a boulder.

"Raaaaar grooooOOOOoooowwwll ERF Glaaaaaabbbbllllllllthhhh!"

As soon as he began, Grug stops. Panting, he waits for the echoes of his outburst to fade. Grug turns to the cave entrance, he prepares to bellow a signal, but before any sound escapes his lips - a cave girl, Eep, bursts from the cave.

"You're supposed to wait for my signal Eep. Eep?" Grug vocally expresses his annoyance with his daughter.

Eep scares a pack of nearby Liyotes away after maneuvering herself onto the ledge they were sleeping on. They pounce on Grug briefly in a consecutive order before scampering off. Eep spreads out on an overhanging rock, basking in the sunlight she rarely sees.

"We've been in that cave forever." Eep groans out.

"Three days is not forever." Grug reasons.

"It is with this family." Eep points out.

"Eep? Where did you go?"

Luna rubs her grey blue eyes as she comes out of the dark cave. She squints, not used to the brightness.

"Luna! I'm up here!" Eep waves her hand to help the girl find where she is. Luna turns towards the direction of her voice, shielding her eyes with her hand as she does so. Giving her a thumbs up as she spots her, she turns around to Grug with an apologetic smile. "Sorry Uncle, I got nervous waiting for the signal. I wanted to see what all that noise was." He sighs, patting her head. "Just wait for it next time." She nodded, before climbing up the wall and flipping onto the ledge that Eep was on.

"It's nice to be out with the sun," Luna remarks, peering at the said object through the gaps in her fingers, "we should come out more often." "Ughhhh. I wish we could come out everyday." Eep groans out, still laying down. Luna looks down at her sprawled out form and looks up at the sun again. "That'd be nice, wouldn't it?"

"Eep you come down here? You're being so...dramatic. Luna, come down too." Grug says as he climbs up to rest his arms on the ledge.

A little girl, Sandy, out next. Her display is more terrier-like.

Grug sees this from under him, "No, no, no Sandy, come back here. Remember the signal. Good wait for the signal." He tries to catch Sandy and fails as she latches her jaw onto the legs of a giant mosquito. A cave woman, Ugga, out next to catch her youngest daughter. Grug expresses his frustration with his wife and daughter through his calling of her name. "Uggaaa." She responds calmly to her annoyed husband. "As soon as I get Sandy, I'll go back in, and you can give the signal." "Nooo, I mean, you're out now." His voice displayed how he was clearly not pleased with how the morning is going.

"I'm waiting for the signal, dad." The eager voice of Thunk, a nine-year old cave boy, echoes from the cave. "Never mind, Thunk. Just, come out." Grug has given up on getting his family to obey his rule of only coming out after the signal was given. "Uhh, but if you don't give the signal, how do I know you're my dad?" Thunk inquires. "The isn't so you know it's me, it's so you know I wasn't by an animal." Grug explains. To the side, we can see Ugga sitting on a wild Sandy to ensure she doesn't run off. "Then why is the an noise? I mean, doesn't that just things?" Thunk asks, clearly confused and unnecessarily complicating the situation.

Grug lets out an exasperated sigh. "I-I don't know... I'm for the signal." Thunk concludes the inquiry by just deciding on waiting for the signal.

*sigh* "Hoo hooooo! Hoo hooooo!" Grug lets out the signal as he moves his body in a motion almost akin to how birds would move. He pauses to see why Thunk hadn't already come out before being pushed to the ground as Thunk barrelled into him, making his entrance.

"RAAAAAAWWWW! RAAA RAAA RAAA!" He slaps his face as Grug looks almost disappointed in his actions.

Luna looks down from the ledge. "Um, Eep, what exactly is your brother doing?" Eep doesn't even bother looking down at what was going on. "Just ignore him. He's just being himself." Luna giggles. "I don't think I could ignore something like this. It's definitely fun to watch though." She lays down on her stomach, resting her chin on crossed wrists while her bottom half is twisted to the right, giving an illusion of a relaxed feline.

In his strange stupor, Thunk manages to lift a boulder and throws it. It off the cliff wall and would have careened into him had Grug not punched him back. Instead it hits Grug and he gets plowed over, rolling with the boulder. He lands face first as the boulder halts it's path.

Ugga calls for her mother to come out of the cave. "Mom, we're to leave. Mom?" She looks towards the darkness of the cave to see what was taking so long.

Grug's face begins to light up as his hopes rise.

"Still alive!" Gran saunters out with her stick and arms held out wide open.

Grug's face immediately drops as she comes out still alive, not too fond of the elder woman. "It's still early." He makes an offhand comment about her living status. "And you're still fat!" Gran spats out in response. Grug lets out a growl as a showcase of his irritation.

"Gran! Isn't being in the sun nice and warm?" Luna looks at one of her favorite members from the Crood family. "Luna! The sun is doing wonders for this old woman. How is my little kitten doing?" Gran smiles at Luna's relaxed figure from on top of the overhanging rock. Luna beams at Gran, her whole face lighting up. "I love being outside! I told Eep I wish we could come out more often."

Grug groans. "Luna-"

Luna was ready to reply, knowing what he was going to say. "I know, I know. 'The world is full of dangers and the cave is how we are still alive' and so on. It's nice to dream though." Grug nods, glad that at least one of the girls understood why he did what he did for the family. "Will you be alright by yourself? Remember-"

"-Go into the cave at the first sign of danger, no matter how small. Wait for you to come back before coming out. I know, I know. Have fun, I'll be waiting right here." Luna waves his worries dismissively. "Don't worry, Grug. She'll be fine. Just like every other time we go out to hunt. She can take care of herself." Ugga reassures Grug, reminding him that this was routine. She smiles at the blonde and gets a thumbs up in return. "She's not stupid, there's nothing to worry about." Gran tells him, smacking him in the back, assured in Luna's skills. "You're the best, Gran!" Luna raises her cupped hands to her scarlet lips, which were raised in a smile.

Grug calls out for his family to get ready. "Breakfast formation!"

As soon as those words are uttered, Eep lets out an alert gasp as she gets up from her place by Luna. She crouches and launches onto the ground. The family get onto their hands as Grug smashes a fist into the ground.

"I want to see some real action out there. We do this fast. We do this loud, we do this as a and never not be afraid. Go!"

"Good luck!" Luna calls out from where she was still laying.