Disclaimer: I do not own The Croods.

So having enjoyed the movie so much, I've decided to just do a few one-shot chapters of different things from the movie. There were a LOT of moments I saw that could have some huge explanation behind them. Guy himself... I can connect a lot to his character, and although that's not good, it's helpful in writing. His feelings; I can kind of understand them.

Plus, there's some great lines that can be evolved into so much more. So this little novel is just a small expansion on movie moments. I can't promise they'll be great, but... hey, maybe you'll enjoy them! If you have any requests, lay them on me, I hope to be able to do some! Other than that, just review and fav! No flaming, sorry, I'm just not a big fan of tearing someone down.

Other than that... just enjoy! And if I make any mistakes, do feel free to let me know. My big issue is keeping everyone in-character and that's hard, seeing as how they're cavemen and a cro-magnon. So I will do my best to try and keep them away from being too simplistic or too modern, but also naive and all that jazz.

Enjoy the first segment! This first chapter isn't the greatest but... it's just meant to kinda get things rolling.


Just How Long?

Character(s) included: Guy, Belt

Theme: Angst/Hurt/Comfort

Time: After Film

'Mommy? Daddy? Wh-where are you?'


Guy's eye twitched. It didn't open, however.


'Follow the sun, Guy. It'll lead you to tomorrow.'


Follow... follow the light. Where there is light, however, there is darkness. And it was so dark. So very dark.


Through the fields he ran, his legs desperately pumping beneath his body, trying to put as much distance between him and his pursuer as possible. His lungs began to burn with the lack of oxygen he was getting, despite his ferocious breathing. His eyesight was bobbing up and down, side to side as he tried to find a safe haven to cower in.

Something to get him away from his inevitable death.

A low growl pierced the land, scaring the small boy even more. Adrenaline- a substance he didn't know flowed through his veins- seemed to almost merge with his blood as he felt the burning sensation of the lactic acid in his muscles. His feet, raw with walking through the day, began to crack and bleed mercilessly as he pounded through the terrain. Rocks and bones broke the skin, tinting it brown as his blood tinted the ground red.

Tears began to mix with sweat as he felt his spirit crumbling. He could keep running, but to where? He'd never escape the predator. He'd never get away- he was a goner, and both parties knew it.

It was just a waiting game, now.

"Please, no. Please... no!" His chant was barely a whisper, but it wasn't for anyone to hear. It wasn't to plead with the large beast that teased his life- it was for his sanity. It was the reminder for his legs that he was the only thing keeping him alive. If he stopped- if he quit- he'd die.

Blurred with the sweat and tears, his altered eyesight caught the darkness of what could only be described as a crack in the crevice. It wasn't big- it barely looked big enough for a small animal, let alone him. But it was his only chance to escape. So he didn't waste a moment.

It didn't matter that the ground tore through the thin fabric he had on his legs, nor that his skin- despite being tough- shredded under the cracked and drought dried dirt. He slid into the small cavern in the large mountain-like landmark, and hid in the farthest back portion. He did his best to calm his breathing and be as quiet as possible, but his breathing was hitched and the pain shooting up his leg was almost too great for him to remain silent.

Almost.

The beast that had chased him stopped just outside the entrance. Its loud sniffing made it obvious that it had yet to give up on its search. A glowing yellow eye appeared just at the entrance, but just as it locked eye-contact with him, it decided the hunt was no long worth it, having heard the caw of a new, closer and larger prey. Bolting, it abandon the scene, leaving as if nothing had ever happened.

Once it was safe, he broke down. Tears fell freely, staining the ground. He cried, silently begging for his mother, or father. Silently begging for someone to save him from his death.

The young boy, no older than 6 years old, pulled himself into the rock and curled into a small ball, because he knew, he was all alone.

And he knew he'd be that way for a long, long time.


Guy huddled against the rock, throwing his lean frame against the solid surface and pulling his body into a small ball. The closer he pulled his legs to his chest, the farther away from the world he felt. The farther away from reality he felt.

'How long have you been alone?'

He winced; a sharp pain flowing through his brain. It almost made him vomit.

Had he done that, there was little doubt that even more worry would have overtaken him, because he most likely would have assumed it was the Common Cold, and that, he realized, he was incapable of fighting off and getting supplies to help cure. Essentially; he would have panicked and killed himself without actually being sick.

And that would have been... bad.

Slowly, Guy felt the tremor that shook his body slowly come to a stand-still, and his 'brain' seemed to come back to life. He quickly wished it hadn't come back, though.

"How... long..." Guy muttered to himself. His voice was strained and seemed to choke a bit as he whispered, but thankfully, the nobody was awake to hear him. Eep was completely out of it, sleeping on the other side of the sleep pile. She may have grown closer to the family, but she sometimes still had obvious spats with Grug. It was a thankful thing she recently had one, or Guy realized he might have woken her up.

Still though, his mind was not on the sleep pile, or even Eep for once.

He couldn't remember how long he'd been alone for.

But he could still remember the question.

'Eep looked at him after his theatrical display of how his marvelous 'trap' worked, but her face wasn't quite as impressed as it had been when he'd brought the fire back to full strength. This time, her face was contorted into a more concerned look, with a bit of confusion mixed in as well.

"How long have you been alone...?" She asked carefully. Guy didn't let his face betray it- but the question struck him blindly. She couldn't possibly know he was truly alone, right? She- a cavewoman- couldn't know that his whole family was dead... that wasn't possible. He hadn't said anything- he hadn't SHOWN anything. She couldn't know.

It was thankful that Belt was there for assistance. He held out his long arms as far as they could stretch apart, partially to try and make light of the situation, but partially, to try and ease the fact into both Eep AND Guy. The sloth knew he could sometimes... bury away information like that.

Guy went on to talk about his trap more, but the question didn't leave his mind.'

And it had yet to, even now. It had been... many, many, many, seasons. He couldn't even count, now that he considered it. And the more he thought about it, the less he wanted to remember.

"How... how long?" Guy closed his eyes tightly, containing the tears. "Alone... for how long..."

"Da?"

Guy froze. Slowly, making sure no liquid escaped his eyes, he opened a single eye and looked around for the source of the noise.

"Hm!" It came again, this time, a slight bit louder. But Guy knew exactly what it was now.

He looked down, drying his eyes in the process, to see a concerned looking Belt. The sloth was obviously worried about his companion, not only because he was coiled up, but because it was easy for the animal to see his emotional trauma he was trying to endure. Alone.

"Oh, Belt!" Guy made sure to keep his voice a whisper, as to avoid waking a person. "I, uh, sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

The sloth didn't seem to care about that, however. Slowly, it raised a clawed hand to Guy's hairline, and ran a claw though the messy dark brown locks. Though some stuck to his forehead with sweat, the rest cleanly parted with the claw. Belt repeated this motion, climbing up Guy's body as he slowly straightened his body out.

Resting on his shoulders, Belt wrapped himself around Guy's neck loosely, as to avoid suffocating the teen, but also tight enough to provide him warmth- and also remind Guy that he was not alone.

Guy sighed. "Thanks, Belt. I... I needed that."

Belt didn't respond- not verbally. He ran his clawed hand through Guy's hair, doing his best to comfort him. Guy picked up on the coaxing vibe that Belt was giving off, however, when he looked at Belt. He wanted him to explain why he was upset- Guy just wasn't sure if he could do it.

"I just... had a bad dream," Guy finished lamely. He looked into Belt's large turquoise eyes and could immediately tell that wouldn't sate the sloth's curiosity. He wanted detail. Guy sighed again. "Back before you and me... I was running from something. And I got hurt... but it was one of the first times I got stuck in the dark. I got scared and thought I was going to die. It was the first time I learned why I needed to follow the light."

Guy felt a pang of fear creep into his body as he recalled the bad memory. Even now, as a teenager, he knew that he would be just as prone. Even though he had infinite more knowledge of the world than the Croods did, for example, he knew he couldn't fight off everything. He wasn't as invincible as they all thought.

Belt squeaked and pulled himself against Guy's warm torso. His fur brushed against the thick skin, but the feeling reminded Guy of the first time the two of them met. Slowly, Guy 'hugged' back, just like he witnessed Grug and Eep do.

"Thanks... for not letting me be alone in the past, Belt." A tear touched Belt's fur. "Thank you so much."