Follow the Light

Chapter 6

The Croods burst out from the mountain of popped kernels. "Still alive!" Eep then looks around, searching for a certain shirtless boy. "Hey, where's Guy?" She then jumps off, leaping through the tall grass like a tiger. Eep pounces on him, picking him up by the tail of his warthog pants. Luna comes chasing after them, panting. "Going somewhere?" asks Eep, confused on why he was still trying to go in the direction of the mountain. He answers, exasperated. "The mountain? High ground? End of the world, remember?" Eep just scoffs, brushing the thought of the end of the world away. "That already happened. It destroyed our cave."

Luna begins to suspect something isn't right after looking at Guy's reaction. Raising her index finger and thumb to her chin, "Don't tell me... that wasn't it?" Luna inquires, apprehensive of their situation. Guy nods, confirming her fears. "That was just the of the end. The end of the end is coming."

Grug spots them together. "Eep. Drop it." Eep moves to set him down while Luna watches them, eyes twinkling with mirth. Guy makes eye contact with her before trying to bolt away from Eep. Her hand was still holding onto him, preventing him from making his escape. "We can't let him go!" Luna smiles with amusement, reasoning with Grug. "What if we don't find a cave before sunset? Or what if it takes a few days?" He starts to tip, showing his inclination steadily. 'One more push.' Luna looks to Eep and nods. "What if the birds come back?!" Eep has him teetering on the very edge before Gran shouts. "We need his fire, dummy!"

Grug lets out a smirk, letting Guy know that his freedom was about to be limited. Grug grabs a random log next to them before throwing Guy into it, restricting his movement. "Fine. You're with us till we find a cave." As Guy regains his footing, he tries to walk away and refuse them.

"What?! No I'm not. Don't make me a part of this." Grug grabs a hold of the log and hoists him under his arm. "Stay here if you want, but let me go. I've got a dream, a mission, a reason to live."

Luna bends down towards his face, clapping her hands together, whispering softly, "Sorry for dragging you into this, but I would really regret it if you got away from us after all of this." Blood rushes to his face and it isn't just from his position in the log.

Eep looks down on him, having not heard what Luna had said. "Not anymore." she says, very brightly. Luna clearly sees him thinking fast. "Umm... I've got an idea. Let's go to that mountain." They turn to look at the mountain off in the distance. Grug immediately denies his suggestion. "It's too far." Guy turns to Luna and Eep. "Dad reeeaaally has his heart set on a cave." Luna just shrugs.

His cogs still turning rapidly, he tries to convince them to go in that direction. "Uh, there, are, caves on that mountain." Luna looks at him, a bit skeptical. "Have you been there?" He tries harder to reason with her. "It's a mountain. Mountains are safe. Mountains have caves. And water. And sticks." She tries muffling her laughs, entertained by his answers. He cheers internally as his eyes catch her hunched, shaking form and hears her giggles.

Thunk slaps Ugga's arm, nearly shaking with excitement. "Mom? Did you hear that? I can get my own stick!" Guy grabs onto the string, going off on sticks and caves. "Yes. Sticks. and sticks. Crazy sticks. Let's go." Grug gets annoyed, trying to shush him. "Oh shush, shush. Quiet!"

They hear a rumble and spot a mammoth on top of higher land. It splits right in the middle, swallowing the unsuspecting mammoth. Belt climbs onto Grug's shoulder, shaking his arms to exaggerate the drama. "Da da daaaaa." The Croods recoil in disgust at the weird creature while Sandy tries attacking it. Belt turns around at the commotion. "Ugh. That thing is weird." Thunk comments after seeing its front. Belt antagonizes Sandy by sticking his tongue out at her. Sandy attempts to go at Belt again. Luna calms Sandy down, explaining that Belt is essentially harmless. "No no, it's okay Sandy. That's just Belt."