Shay: The Croods
Summary: Shay is a 17 year old girl who can live any and everywhere, even in the past, or things like movies and books, so what happens when she accidently enters The Croods world? Story 1 in the Shay series.
SPH: Hey-o! So, this is my new and first The Croods fanfiction and as you can see, it centers around my new OC Shay who will apprear in a Magical Disney Shorts chapter by one of my best friends Gracekim1. So, I do not own The Croods, or any of the characters, animals, or places, I only own Shay and my the Croods animal OC Misha. On with the story!
Shay blinked as she woke up, her dark brown, almost black hair covering her face. Groaning she pushed it out of her face and stood up. She looked around and saw she was on a tropical-like beach.
"Where… am I?" she asked confused. She frowned. It didn't make sense, the last place she'd been was the woods near her school after running there and seeing Lucas kiss the most popular girl in school after asking her on a date only two classes before, so why was she here? "I must of opened a portal and traveled somewhere far away from him without realizing it." She said sighing. She looked around again. "It still doesn't answer where, or even when I am though."
She turned around and spotted a jungle behind her. Deciding it would have better shelter than just standing on the beach she headed into it.
"These plants," she muttered, "I've only seen them in museums."
A giant mosquito flew by making her give a startled scream.
"Giant bug!" she cried before running. "Okay, giant bug, I'm either in the Stone Age, or I'm gonna have to try and avoid meat eating dinos."
Still running Shay looked around for any indication of which era she was in. She was so caught up in running she didn't notice the cliff ahead of her until she almost fell off it.
"Okay," she said backing away, "that was far too close!"
She heard a large growl behind her and turned to see a giant cat with fur that matched a macaws' feathers and giant teeth.
"Giant cat!" She cried, "Defiantly the Stone Age!"
The cat or Macawnivore started moving closer to her.
"N-nice kitty…" Shay stuttered.
The macawnivore pounced and Shay just barely managed to dive onto the ground in time. She turned around to see the macawnivore go over the cliff. She gasped and ran over to the edge and saw it was hanging onto the cliff with a terrified expression.
"Hold on!" Shay cried, "I'll help you!"
She stood up and looked around for something to help pull the macawnivore up onto the ground. While she was terrified it might eat her once off the cliff, if there was one thing she could never bring herself to do, it was abandon an animal in trouble, which, more often than not got her into some form of trouble.
"Uhm, oh!" She cried spotting a hollowed out log and vines.
She raced over to them before breaking the log in two, which had it not been hollow it never would have worked, then tied the vines together before attaching them to the log and draping them over a tree branch. Looking around she spotted stones that could easily make a pulley systems. Once she had it set up, she dropped the log over the cliff, next to the macawnivore.
"Get on and I'll pull you up!" Shay called leaning over.
The macawnivore looked between Shay, the log, and the bottom of the cliff. Giving a panicked roar it climbed into the log.
"Hang on!" Shay yelled. She quickly raced back to the tree and started pulling the macawnivore up.
'Geez! That cat weighs more than I thought.' She thought grunting.
She smiled once the macawnivore stepped out of the log and onto the ground.
"There ya go." She said panting and pushing her hair out of her eyes once again.
The macawnivore looked at her making her gasp and back towards the tree, but the macawnivore just snorted and ran off. Once it was out of sight Shay gave a relieved sigh and slouched against the tree.
"Okay, well, I better change." She said standing up.
Closing her eyes she began to alter reality. When she opened them she was in the air, floating. Giggling she spun around and burst through a cloud. As she did so everything started changing, she no longer had on modern day clothes, instead she had on a short, snow leopard fur dress with no sleeves, or straps, a pair of shorts on under it, and a decorative belt with gems and shells on it. A necklace with three sea shells with a red feather between each appeared on her neck, while a brown armlet showed up on her right arm while a second one with red feathers was on her left arm. A headband with red feathers materialized on her head. Spinning around once more she closed her eyes. When she opened them, she bas back beneath the tree and had her katana leaning against it, along with a spear.
"Well," Shay said grabbing a vine and braiding her hair, "that's better." Tying the vine around the bottom of the braid she looked around. "But I need to find shelter for the night, and food, and clean, nonocean water." She looked at the spear. "What's worse is I have no clue how to hunt." She said. She sighed and looked down at her feet. "Hm, something's missing," she muttered looking at her ankles. She picked up some vines and wove them together in an anklet that she tied around her right ankle. "There! Perfect!"
She grabbed her katana and spear and headed out to find a place to rest, and to hopefully find food and water. After about walking for an hour she spotted a bunch of bananas hanging from a tree.
"Perfect!" she said.
She drew back her spear before throwing it and knocking down the bananas. She quickly ran after where they fell. Once she reached them she started pealing and eating. After having her fill she started on again. About an half hour later she heard a macawnivore give a roar, but it sounded more panicked than what she assumed was normal. Despite the want to just keep going, she ran after it and found the macawnivore from earlier with its butt stuck in a tar pit.
"Hang on," Shay said laughing, "I'll get you out."
Grabbing a stick she carefully made her way to the pit and placed it behind the macawnivore and held it down.
"Go on! Get!" Shay cried.
The macawnivore stood up, the stick taking its place in the tar.
Shay stood up and sighed. The macawnivore sniffed her, snorted, then ran off again.
"You're welcome!" Shay yelled cupping her hands to her mouth.
She sighed before heading back the way she came. Eventually night came. Shay sighed and quickly built a fire. Looking up in the trees she spotted a bird. Her stomach growled and she sighed. Looking back up at it she threw her spear again and the bird landed in front of her.
"Sorry birdie." She whispered.
Looking around she found two sticks that made perfect stakes to roast the bird on once she plucked off the feathers. After cooking it, she started eating. Not long after she heard a growl and groaned.
"Here." She said turning around and giving the bird to the macawnivore that she'd run into twice.
The macawnivore blinked before eating the bird, then snuggled up against Shay.
"Huh, you're pretty sweet, ya know that?" She said, "I think I'll call you Misha, assuming you're okay with that."
The macawnivore only purred and snuggled closer.
"Okay, Misha it is." Shay said yawning. "Well, good night Misha." She said closing her eyes.
When she woke up the next morning Shay was a bit surprised there was something furry next to her, but when she looked and saw Misha, she remembered everything and sighed. Stretching she stood up.
"Come on Misha, we'd better get going if we wanna find food, shelter, and fresh water." She said picking up her spear and katana.
Misha slowly got up herself before following Shay. How long they walked Shay wasn't sure, but eventually they found themselves at the base of a waterfall. Shay quickly bent down and cupped water in her hands before drinking while Misha took a drink as well. Shay looked at the pool in front of them. Carefully she waded in and headed towards the falls. About one fourth of the way there she realized she'd have to swim there. Once she reached the falls she stood under them before swimming back.
"Well, maybe we can find shelter near here." She said, "We'd have clean water, and could swim, and I could easily stand under the falls if I wanted to get clean."
Misha looked at her, then started walking away.
"Misha! Misha wait!" Shay cried running after her.
Misha finally stopped in front of a large tree with multiple thick, sturdy branches.
"Misha! This is perfect! I can build a house up in the tree, and we're close to the water fall!" Shay cried, "And we could hunt for food, and I can gather once I figure out what's safe to eat and what isn't, and this is perfect!"
Misha gave Shay a slightly confused look, but didn't do anything else.
Over the next three days Shay and Misha worked on making the tree house, even making a pulley system so if Misha were hurt she wouldn't have to climb, Shay could just pull her up. Misha also helped teach Shay to hunt, and Shay managed to figure out what was okay to eat by observing the other animals.
After being there about a month, which Shay had kept track of by making notches in the trees, Shay had been showering under the waterfall when Misha suddenly looked up and growled.
"Misha?" Shay asked, "What's wrong?"
Misha only continued to growl making Shay worry. Quickly she threw her clothes back on and redid her braid. She grabbed her katana and the blow darts she'd made a few days earlier.
"Come on, let's go." She said mounting onto Misha.
Once Shay was on, Misha took off. Shay noticed the trees thinning out, meaning they were getting close to the beach. When they were almost at the edge Shay grabbed onto a nearby vine and swung into a tree. Using other vines and branches she perched on a branch just at the edge of the beach. Looking out she saw a bearowl, a land whale, another macawnivore, multiple small animals, and seven people. Misha ran onto the beach then, giving a roar that said she meant business. The other macawnivore charged at her, while the bearowl shrank back and the land whale pretended to be a cave. Shay gasped and shot the new macawnivore with a blow dart, knocking it out. She grabbed hold of a vine and swung out onto the beach and held her katana to one of the human's neck. He appeared to be about her age and was clearly scared.
"Who are you?" Shay demanded, "And why are you trespassing on my territory, don't you have a cave, or something to retreat to?"
"Okay, first off, we don't live in caves," the human who she had her katana against her neck said, "secondly, I'm Guy,"
"Guy?" Shay asked, "What sort of moron names their son Guy?"
Guy glared at her.
"Look," One of the other humans' a large man who looked like her could have easily been Guy's father if they had any similarities other than eye color, "we don't want any trouble, we're just passing through."
"Exactly," Guy said, "we had no idea this was where you live, so if you'll kindly removed your weapon from my neck as soon as Chunky wakes up we'll leave."
"He is going to wake up, right?" The man asked.
"Of course he is!" Shay cried, "I'm not heartless, I only kill an animal if I either have no choice, or are going to eat it, he's fine."
Suddenly something around Guy's waist moved, revealing to be an animal.
"Is that a sloth!?" Shay cried lowering her katana.
"Yes, that's Belt." Guy said.
"I love sloths," Shay said, "they're always so cute!" She looked at the humans. "If Belt trusts you, then so do I." she said, "My name's Shay." She motioned to Misha, "And this is Misha."
Chunky gave a small growl.
"He should wake up in about an hour." Shay said, "I have a tree house not too far away, once he's up we can go there." She sighed. "I'm sorry about being hostile, I've been on my own most of my life, I never really got to know my parents, I was too little to understand what happened, all can remember is they left to go hunting one day and never came back." She lifted her katana and looked at it. "This was my father's, it's called a katana. It's… all I have left, I went looking for them, even though they'd told me to stay put, and I found this."
"I can relate to that." Guy said making her look up.
"Huh?" Shay muttered.
"My parents died in a tar pit when I was little, Belt was my only companion until I met the Croods." Guy said.
"The who?" Shay asked.
Guy frowned and motioned to the six people with him.
"Oh." Shay said, "Well, I feel like an idiot now."
"A what?" the girl her age asked.
"An idiot, you know a really stupid person?" Shay asked.
"Wait, does that mean I'm an idiot?" the young boy in the group asked.
"That's my brother Thunk." The girl said, "He's pretty stupid, and easy to scare."
"And your name is?" Shay asked.
"Oh! I'm Eep." Eep said.
"And the rest of you are?" Shay asked.
"I'm Ugga," the younger woman said, "that's my husband Grug," she said motioning to the man who did not seem very happy with her.
A young girl ran over to her and circled her similar to a dog.
"Sandy!" Eep cried.
"You're sister I assume?" Shay said stepping away from the girl.
"Yeah," Eep said grabbing her, "anyway, that's Gran," She motioned to the old woman in the group, "Douglas," she motioned to a crocopup, "Scarf, and Pomp Pomp's the tripmouse around Gran's neck,".
Chunky managed to stand up, though he was very wobbly.
"Huh, he woke up sooner than usual." Shay said.
"It's getting dark." Guy said looking up at the sky.
"Come on, you can stay at my place for the night." Shay said, "It's not too far away, unless you're going on foot."
Guy and the Croods nodded and followed her back to her tree house, Eep telling her the rest of their pets names, though Shay was more focused on Chunky. Once they arrived Shay showed them her pulley system for Misha which was used to get Chunky up into the tree house as well.
"So, you built this?" Guy asked looking round.
"With Misha's help." Shay said, "It's pretty much perfect, minus the neighbors."
As if on cue a monkey entered and tried to steal some food.
" Oh! Shoo! Shoo! Get out of here!" Shay yelled waving a broom at it. The monkey quickly took off. "See what I mean?" Shay asked putting the broom back down.
She heard stifled laughter coming from her guests.
"Oh sure, laugh, it wouldn't be funny if you always had to try and keep them out, or come back and find out some of your stuff was missing." Shay said.
"So, why'd you think we lived in caves?" Eep asked.
"It's a long story," Shay said, "but to make it short, I thought everyone lived in caves, I thought I was the first person to live in a tree, to live outside of a cave."
"So, is that why you're on your own?" Thunk asked.
"No, I didn't have human interaction since my parents died not direct interaction anyway; I hate caves, so I tried to avoid others, hoping I wouldn't end up having to live in one." Shay said.
"I'm so sorry to hear that." Ugga said.
"It's no big deal," Shay said shrugging, "I'm used to it." She frowned. "I… feel safer on my own… lonely, but safe, Misha's an exception, she's my only friend, and I'm glad I met her, I haven't lived here long, but if it weren't for Misha, I might not of survived out here. I'm just… afraid that if I have a family again… I'll lose them…"
Eep snorted.
"I fail to see what's so funny." Shay said glaring.
"Oh, I wasn't laughing at you!" Eep said, "It's just, if we hadn't met Guy, we'd probably been dead by now too, he showed us how to survive out here, like Misha showed you."
Shay smirked.
"I guess you grew up on your own out here then." Shay said crossing her arms and smirking at Guy.
Guy rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged.
Shay shook her head.
"So, how exactly did you guys end up here?" she asked turning and starting in making something to eat.
"Well," Eep said slowly, "Excluding Guy and Belt, and our pets, we used to be cavies."
"Cavies?" Shay asked, "Oh! You mean cavemen! Got it!"
"Yeah, I met Guy when I left the cave at night, which was against the rules," Eep continued, "and he told me about The End…"
"The what?" Shay asked.
"The End," Guy said, "end of the world."
Shay snorted.
"Okay, sure, and that would be?" she asked.
"Seriously?" Guy asked, "How did you not know about it? The ground was shaking, then it was splitting apart and everything was falling in! Fire! Lava!..."
"Never reached here, I can't think of a time and earthquake hit this area." Shay said, "Maybe when I was a kid and lived far away, but as for right where we are, nothing like that happened."
"Lucky…" Guy muttered.
"So, you were saying Eep?" Shay asked.
"Well, our cave got destroyed by the beginning of The End, and then we ended up in a jungle, and then we tried to find a cave, but we ran into Chunky who, at the time wanted to kill us." Eep continued.
"Sounds like me and Misha," Shay said, "I had to save her from falling off a cliff, get her out of a tar pit and give her my dinner just so she'd stop hunting me."
"Well, we found out he was afraid of the dark," Eep said, "like all of us, and then we ran into a swarm of piranhakeets, and my family broke the shell Guy gave me to call him if I survived, but I found a horn which I used to call him, and he made a fire that scared them off, then he met my family, which was a disaster."
"They set an entire field on fire and got us buried in popcorn." Guy said frowning.
"You say that like being buried in popcorn's a bad thing." Shay said, "I haven't had popcorn in I can't remember how long!"
"Anyway, after that my dad still wanted to find a cave, but I managed to persuade him to let Guy come with us," Eep continued.
"Uh, I was forced to come along, he stuffed me into a log remember?" Guy asked.
"Anyway, so eventually we ran into a bird and dad and Thunk went hunting to get its egg," Eep continued.
"Will you stop calling it hunting?" Guy asked.
"It was hunting, if you'd lived where we did you'd understand that, there was next to no food, so we always had to hunt like that, it was normally everyone one of us, and we were usually competing with multiple animals just to get an egg." Eep said, "So anyway, they failed and we started having Scorpion, then Gran tried to eat Thunk, and Guy started rolling away, and then he let me help him hunt by helping him set a trap, then helping him use a puppet to lure the bird into the trap, which didn't go according to plan, the acting sticks got tangled together, then the bird tossed Guy back into the log, then it chased me, then I had to stop my dad from stepping in the trap, and finally the bird stepped into it and we ate the entire thing!"
"Which was really disturbing to watch." Guy said.
Shay snorted.
"Well, if they only ever ate one egg and I'm assuming it was split between them, it makes sense." She said.
"Yeah, I told him after he explained what leftovers were." Eep said.
"Huh, I'm guessing that means you have food leftover," Shay said, "I sorta have that, I gather more food than I can eat in a single day, but I do it so I don't have to hunt every day, I hate killing animals, Misha usually brings in meat, but I do hunt as well." She cut herself with the knife she'd been using to cut some fruit. "Ow! Stupid knife…" she muttered.
"Are you okay?" Eep asked.
"Yeah, I just accidently cut myself," Shay said, "it's no big deal, I do it a lot. Please, continue."
"Alright," Eep said slowly, "anyway, after we ate dad told us a story about a tiger which was representing me I guess because he completely retold our day using that story and ended it by saying everyone died, like he usually did when he told a story."
"I still can't believe he ended every story like that." Guy said.
"He never had an original one, they were always passed down throughout the family," Eep said, "anyway, then Guy told us a better one about a tiger who jumped on the sun and used it to fly to Tomorrow! A place with more suns in the sky than you can count, a place where everything's better."
"O-kay, back to how you got here please." Shay said.
"Oh, right! Well, The End almost caught up to us, and then me and Guy had to convince my dad to keep him outside the log." Eep said, "Before you interrupt need I remind you I got him to let go of you before you got him to get rid of the log so you could actually help us?"
Guy closed his mouth and Shay snorted.
"Sorry, sorry! Continue!" she said.
"So the rest of the way to the mountain where we were heading Guy helped us out by giving us shoes, making stilts, sleds, umbrellas, teaching us to swim, and then giving each of us our own shells so if we ran into danger we could call the others." Eep continued.
"Hold on, why were you splitting up to start with?" Shay asked turning around, "Sounds pretty dumb to me."
"We ran into a giant maze," Guy said, "it was best to split up to try more paths at once."
"Oh, okay, so, if you don't mind, what'd each of you run into?" Shay asked.
"I met Douglas!" Thunk cried.
"Aw! That's adorable!" Shay cried, "Did he help you find your way out?"
"Yep! By playing fetch!" Thunk said.
"I'm not even going to ask." Shay said. She looked at Ugga. "And you?"
"Me, mom, and Sandy ran into giant meat eating flowers, but after seeing a frog that would hold up its tongue that looked like a flower get through without being eaten we managed to use old petal and fallen flowers to wear on our heads and as skirts so they wouldn't eat us." Ugga said.
"Wow, I love flowers, I used to paint and draw them all the time." Shay said.
"I ran into a stream that had huge red crystals behind it and flowers' falling from the top, but that was just Guy dropping flowers from on top of the crystals." Eep said.
"And you Grug?" Shay asked.
Grug just frowned.
"Okay! Okay! Don't feel like saying, its fine." Shay said putting her hands up.
"Anyway, after we all got out mom had to go back in to find dad, and then Guy took us to this awesome tree that was actually similar to this place, only, not actually a tree house. Anyway, after mom got back we heard The End getting closer, so Guy took us to the top and showed us Tomorrow! That's where he was going after we found our cave, but we all decided to go with him instead." Eep said.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Shay said, "He showed you what the night sky looks like and you all thought it was somewhere you could go to? Look, I've tried, believe me, it's impossible, so is jumping on the sun, it moves to fast, and makes sure it looks like it's right in front of you, but it never is!" she sighed, "I-I'm sorry, please, continue."
"That explains a lot…" Guy muttered.
Shay rolled her eyes.
"So the next day we couldn't find dad, but when we did he had all of these ridiculous ideas, the only good one being snapshots, and rides after we started using animals instead of rocks." Eep said, "Anyway, when we got to the mountain, dad found a cave, but we never told him about us deciding to go with Guy, and when we did he tried to kill him."
"I'm sorry what!?" Shay cried whirling around.
"Relax, whatever happened while they'd run off, er, while dad was chasing Guy made dad actually stop seeing Guy as someone he didn't like… what did happen anyway?" Eep asked.
"We got stuck in a tar pit and tricked Chunky into pulling us out." Guy said, "And I explained to him what happened to my parents and how they told me to stop hiding and to always follow the sun."
"Well, after that we made it to the top of the mountain, and The End was catching up, so we tried to jump on the sun, but…" Eep said.
"But you couldn't and didn't understand how because it had looked like it was right in front of you where it was really playing a trick that made it look that way." Shay said, "Nice ending."
"That's actually not the ending," Eep said, "Dad actually threw us all to safety, but he couldn't make it himself, I kept blowing my shell, hoping that he'd come and he did! He! ... How did you get over there?"
"I took the ribcage of a landwhale, covered it with tar, then tricked piranhakeets into landing on it and used a fire to steer them in the direction I wanted, Chunky helped, and then I saved the pets along the way, and eventually made it over to you guys." Grug said proudly.
"We'd all been blowing our shells at that point," Eep said, "and I was so relieved when he finally made it, and accepted Guy as family, though we were all scared of Chunky at first, then dad told us he was a cat person and that Chunky was his pet. We've been following the sun ever since."
Shay just smiled and shook her head.
"Wow, just wow." She said. Then she frowned and started counting heads. "Wait, where's Misha?"
Moments late Misha came back in with a deer in her mouth.
"Oh, you went hunting I see." Shay said smiling. She peeked around Misha and looked at Guy and the Croods. "Are you alright with waiting for me to fix this deer up for dinner?"
"Why don't we help you?" Eep asked in a tone similar to when she'd been trying to convince her dad to bring Guy with them to find a cave.
"Uhm, o-okay?" Shay said.
Everyone helped prepare the deer and other food, Guy and Belt being the biggest help.
"I'm sorry about you losing your family," Ugga said.
"Like I said, it's no big deal, I mean, sure it's lonely, but hey, I'm doing pretty good on my own with only Misha by my side." Shay said.
"It shouldn't be that way though." Grug said, "You can't be much older, or younger than Eep and Guy, it's not right for you to be on your own."
Shay shot him a glare that made him gulp.
"Well unless you have some sort of miraculous solution it's the ways things are." Shay said harshly, "Besides, I don't want to leave my life, I don't want to live anywhere but here, it's the only place I can see…"
"See what?" Eep asked.
Shay frowned.
"Look, you can tell us, we won't laugh, or anything, I promise!" Eep said.
Shay was quiet for a moment, but nodded.
"Follow me." She said, "Hopefully tonight they'll show."
"What will show exactly?" Thunk asked.
Shay only replied by climbing to the top of the tree, on the roof of the room in her tree house, which was multiple small buildings scattered throughout the tree with vines, branches, or bridges used to get to each one. Once everyone had reached the top they all gasped in delight as they saw brightly colored lights across the sky.
"The Aurora Borealis, the northern lights." Shay said, "My parents used to say every person who dies becomes a part of the lights, watching and protecting everyone still alive, everyone under them. They don't show up every night, but when they do, I feel like my parents are trying to visit me, but they can't, they can only look down at me from the lights."
"Do you think my parents are up there?" Guy asked.
"I know they are," Shay said, "but this is why I don't want to leave, you need to be up really high to see them, and they don't show up every night so I don't want to miss when they do."
She noticed the Croods and Guy all sharing looks.
"What? Why are you looking at each other like that? What's going on in your heads?" She asked concerned.
"You don't like living on your own, do you?" Ugga asked.
"I'm not leaving." Shay said stubbornly.
"We're not asking, or telling you to." Ugga said.
"If we were to stay here, would you consider being a part of our family?" Eep asked.
Shay dropped her arms to her sides.
"I-I…" she started.
"Maybe if we were to find another places with the lights while exploring, we could go there and keep following them, so you wouldn't have to miss seeing them," Eep added.
"We just don't want you to continue being alone." Ugga said.
"I-I," Shay continued. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "What have I got to lose?" She asked smiling.
When everyone frowned trying to think of an answer she face palmed.
"That was a yes." She groaned.
"Oh." Everyone said looking slightly embarrassed.
Shay just laughed and hugged her new family.
"So," she said pulling away, "anyone still hungry? Hopefully Misha and the others didn't eat the deer by now."
That was when everyone realized they'd left the deer unattended and rushed back down.
"Nice to know you're still looking out for me." Guy whispered looking back at the lights.
To everyone's relief everything was how they'd left it.
"Alright, back to cooking!" Shay said.
About two hours later everything was cooked and everyone was eating.
"Mhm! How'd you learn to cook like this?" Eep asked while still chewing so it sounded more like "Mow dah ew urn shoe look bike wish."
"Huh?" Shay asked, "Could you repeat that without food in your mouth so I know what you're saying."
"Sorry," Eep said wiping her mouth after she swallowed, "I asked where you learned to cook like that? It was so good! It had way more flavor than what we normally eat!"
"Seriously? Did you really just ask that?" Shay asked, "After I told you how my parents died when I was little and I've been on my own since?"
"Oh, right, sorry." Eep said looking down, "I think my stomach was saying one thing while my brain was trying to remind me what you've gone through."
Shay laughed.
"It's fine, I'm sure things like that happen to everyone." She said.
"So," Eep said slowly, "do you remember anything about your parents?"
"Not much," Shay said, "mostly small blurry things, or the smell of a flower, or feelings I had, I remember my dad's hands sometimes felt like sandstone, it's a kind of rock, I have some here so I can show you, but, I also remember that his hands always had a gentle touch. My mom always had a flower in her hair, and would run her hand through her hair if she was embarrassed; she also always got mad at my dad because he would try to show me how to use his katana. I remember mom would sing to me at night, but the words are always blurred it's hard for me to remember them. I remember dad always smelling like smoke because he tended to screw up the fire, while mom always spelt of flowers, or fruits. I remember always being happy and how safe I felt, but, that's all; everything else is just one huge blur."
"How'd he screw up the fires?" Eep asked.
"I don't really remember, aside from this one time when he put too much wood on and caught a couple trees on fire as well as himself." Shay said. She gave a small giggle. "I was too little to understand the danger so I'd been laughing. He and mom just barely managed to put it out. If I remember correctly mom smacked him and yelled at him for putting us in danger."
"Wow, that's kinda ironic." Guy said giving a small laugh.
"I guess." Shay said giving a half shrug. She yawned. "Well, I'm gonna head up to my room, don't touch anything, please, I don't want you to get hurt."
She then stood up and climbed to her room, but instead of going in she climbed onto the roof and looked up at the lights.
"Nice to see you again," she said giving a small smile, "I wish you were here with me, that I could have had made so many memories with you, I mean, I'm seventeen now!" she sighed. "That's a long time for a little girl to live on her own… sure, the families I had, however short lived were nice, but it's not the same. Oh! I'm improving with my katana! Well, your katana dad. The Croods and Guy seem nice, plus Guy has a sloth named Belt! I guess it's because he hangs around his waist like one." She gave a small laugh. "In case you didn't know, they're the people who were up here earlier. They're… also, my new… family… they can't replace you of course! Oh! I came up with a new trick to do at the falls! I finally mastered it this morning! So, I climb up in this tree not too far away, then I swing down and into the water, or across the pond, or even un to the actual falls on a vine! I dive off the falls if I land up there, it takes a good bit of effort to steer, but that's only if I'm in the wrong spot to reach where I want to land. Misha wasn't very happy when I accidently knocked her into the pond trying to swing over her to the others side, I jumped both too soon and on a branch that was too low." She gave a nervous giggle. "That aside, things have been pretty good."
She sighed. She was talking to the Northern Lights, to parents she never had, all a big lie in case someone was listening.
'They shouldn't even be here!' she thought lying down on the roof, 'I altered it so I could see them! And then I told Guy that his parents were up there! I'll need to fix that, but I'll have to make sure that none of them, not even Misha are around.'
She watched as the lights flickered and danced. It was always soothing for her, something that was so beautiful, so perfect, something that would be near impossible to ruin! Something that made her feel happy and safe.
She yawned and closed her eyes after she wasn't sure how long. She instantly regretted it. Once they were closed, blurry false memories filled her head, feelings she made up hit her heart, smells that had never been real filled her nose. She bolted up and choked back tears.
"Why!?" she yelled, not bothering to lower her voice, or even care enough to do so. "Why'd you have to leave!? It's not fair! I'm seventeen! Why couldn't I have memories, real memories of you!? Happy ones, sad one, angry ones! Any kind just so you were there while I grew up! Why couldn't I have a normal childhood instead of fending for myself since as long as I can remember!? Why couldn't I have gotten to know you!?" Tears were now pouring down her face and she felt like she couldn't breathe. "Why couldn't you of been there?" she whispered.
"I thought you were going to go to sleep earlier." Guy's voice said.
Shay turned around wiping tears from her face.
"I said I was going to my room, I never said I was going to sleep." She said. She looked back up at the sky. "Besides, I always talk to my parents when the Lights show up."
"Well, that makes me feel a bit better," Guy said. He looked at her, "mind if I sit by you?"
Shay shook her head.
"No, please, I'd like the company." She said.
Guy nodded and sat down.
"I kinda wish I'd know about the Lights sooner," he said, "before I headed back down, I, well, I said it was nice to know that my parents were still watching out for me, I'm pretty sure no one heard though."
Shay smiled.
"I didn't," she said, "but I was pretty hungry, so I probably wasn't paying attention."
"So, you've been on your own your whole life?" Guy asked, "With no one until you met Misha?"
"Not, exactly," Shay admitted, "I did have an older brother at one point, well, I saw him as my brother, his name was Alix, he'd lost his parents too, we ran into each other one day, then stuck together after that. We ran into other people, an entire village, they literally lived on a beach, but, one day when I was eight, a storm struck, followed by a tsunami. None of us had ever experienced one. I'd chased a lizard up a tree not long before it all started, I remember all the water drew back so quick it was as if it was trying to run away from us, not long after, I noticed birds were flying away in a panicked matter, and animals were trying to find shelter, then the first wave hit, I was in a tree, it held against then first wave, and the second, but it nearly fell over when the third hit. I didn't go down until I woke up the next day. I raced down to where the village had been, but, I found no survivors, not everyone was there, but, there was no way anyone could of survived, I only did because when the waves hit, the tree had held firm and kept me out of the water. I figured, either the people who were missing got eaten over night, or their bodies had been swept out to sea. I've been completely alone for the past nine years, well, until I met Misha, and then you, Belt, and the Croods, oh! And their pets."
"Wow," Guy said looking out towards the beach," I'm sorry you had to go through that."
"That's… the real reason I wanted to be alone, well, why I said it was best." Shay said, "If I'm alone, I can't lose anyone I care about. I'm actually terrified of being alone, but, I'm also afraid of losing the people I care about." She looked up at the Lights. "It's why I love the Lights so much, and why I talk to them, it makes me feel like everyone is still here with me."
"You wouldn't make fun of me, or tell everyone if I talked to me as well, right?" Guy asked.
Shay snorted. "I wouldn't of even told you if you hadn't caught me yelling at them!" she said lightly hitting his shoulder, "Trust me, the last thing I would do is tell, or make fun of you."
Guy gave a lopsided grin and rubbed his shoulder.
"Thanks," he said. He looked up at the lights, Shay doing so as well.
"Would you feel better if I left?" Shay asked, "You seem a bit, I dunno, embarrassed?"
"Huh?" Guy asked, "Oh! No! You're fine, it's just, well…" he sighed. "It's been so long, I'm not even sure what to say…"
Shay smiled.
"Well," she said lying back, "I always tell them how I've been, what I've learned, I just talk, and after I start, well, the rest comes easily."
Guy looked at her as she smiled and closed her eyes.
"You should try it." She said opening one and looking at him before closing it.
Guy looked back at the lights and took a deep breath. "H-hi mom, h-hi dad," he said stuttering slightly, "it, it's been a really long time, hasn't it? Uhm, I-I I've been following the sun, like you said, and I've come up with some pretty cool stuff too! Belt's doing good as well, in case you were wondering." He gave a nervous laugh.
Shay frowned and opened her eyes.
'Guy,' she thought, 'they're not really there, not tonight, but, they will be, tomorrow, and they'll have heard everything, I promise.'
"I-I hope it doesn't bother you, o-or make up upset, but I-I'm going to stop f-following the sun, but not to hide I promise!" Guy said," It's just,". He looked over at Shay. "Shay just really needs someone to be there for her, so, me, Belt, and the Croods decided, we'll be her family." He said smiling.
Shay gave a small laugh and smiled back.
"Oh! The Croods are my new family as well! They haven't replaced you, I promise!" Guy said, "They're… they just, took me and Belt in, but, they haven't become new parents and siblings, or in Gran's case my grandmother, they're kinda like… uhm…"
"A foster family?" Shay suggested, "It's basically people taking you in and letting you be their family without you having to see them as actual relatives, at least, that's how I see it. My entire village was my foster family before everyone died, never once did anyone say I had to call them my mom, dad, aunt, uncle, brother, sister, grandmother, grandfather, or cousin, they just saw me and Alix as family."
"Yeah, that!" Guy said. He looked at her. "Thanks Shay." He said.
Shay smiled and shook her head.
"Anyway," Guy said slowly, "I hope you're okay with that…"
Shay quickly stood up and started climbing down, feeling very awkward and out of place suddenly.
"Shay, you alright?" Guy asked noticing.
"I'm hungry." Shay lied before continuing down.
Once her feet touched the branch that her hut rested on she sighed and went down to the kitchen before grabbing a mango.
'I couldn't just stay up there,' she thought, 'I should have, so I could have the full dialog, but…' she sighed again and took a bite out of the sloppy, juicy fruit. 'Why couldn't I just stay up there?' she thought, 'Why did I suddenly feel out of place?' she sighed again. 'Oh, who am I kidding? He started talking about me, and why he was sacrificing what he'd chosen to do for his parents so I could finally have a family again, and I get easily embarrassed when people talk about me in anyway, except badly, then I just get mad.'
She wiped the juice from her mouth and climbed back up to her hut.
"Hey," she said climbing onto the roof, "I'm gonna try and get some sleep, so, please try to your voice down."
"Actually, I was about to go get some sleep myself." Guy said standing up.
"Well, good night then." Shay said.
"You too." Guy said before climbing down to a lower hut.
Shay yawned as she lied down on her bed.
'I need to be up extra early so I can fix the lights, or find a way to ditch them, maybe I can get Misha to give me a lift to the mountain, or put some valerian root in their food, Misha and the pets too.' She thought, 'Either way, at least I finally have a family again.'
A smile stretched across her face as she finally drifted off to sleep.
SPH: Whew! Done! Okay, so the valerian root may seem a little mean, but Shay is trying to be secretive. Also the scene when Shay's entire appearance changes was inspired by a scene in the music video for So Alone by Anna Blue. Anyway, what all is in store for Shay and her new family, what all will happen the next day? How will they all get along? How will Shay fix the lights? What all does she have in her many huts? Will anyone actually get hurt, or get in trouble by messing with Shay's stuff? Well this is Samantha Peace HeartStar signing off for now! Peace out and keep spreading the KH, HTTYD, RWBY, and The Croods love!