Chapter 4
The Beginning and The End
It only took two day for the Crood family came out of their cave. An empty stomach can do that to you. Juno bolts towards the family with a mission in mind.
"Grug sir." She put on her most innocent face. "Why don't you hunt with the men today?"
"With those animals. No thanks, we do just fine on our own."
"Yeah because that worked out sooo well last time" Grug shot her a dirty look. "Sorry I was just thinking it would be beneficial for both parties to hunt together. You won't have to worry about keeping everyone safe in the clearing and we would be close to the cave if anything happened."
"I don't think so." Grug refused her proposal as Salamander walked up.
"It's a good idea. Stump has already agreed and portions have already been worked out. It would be safer for your family to be closed to the cave." Salamander put a hand on Grugs shoulder.
Grug sighed of frustration. "Fine we can try it."
Both girls squealed in excitement and ran towards the women.
"Wait wait wait hold on." Grug grabbed both girls and pulled their attention back. "There are still rules you will follow while I'm gone. You stay where your mother can see you, watch your brother, no wandering off, and under no circumstance do you leave the clearing." Both girls shook their heads in agreeance. "Ugga stay here. We'll be back soon"
Grug joined the group of men and they headed out. The girls day was spent with the women doing chores, laughing the whole time. Once the men came back everyone ate and talked and the the Croods went back to the cave.
"See you again tomorrow." Eep waved goodbye to Juno.
"We won't be out again for a few more days." Grug looked over at her daughter. "This doesn't change the ways we do things."
"well whenever your ready to hunt again we will be here." Salamander waved goodbye to the Crood family.
With the bigger meals, that came with hunting with the pack the Croods came out less often. It would be five to seven days at a time before the boulder would move and the family came out of the cave. Each time Grug would hunt with the men and the family would stay behind with the women.
"We already explored this side of the clearing." Eep complained out of boredom.
"Weelllll we could go outside the canyon. I could show you the whole world outside these walls." Juno started to get excited she was bouncing up and down.
"I don't think we have time for the world."
"Oh well how about the lake? It's only five miles from here."
"The lake from your stories? Yeah can we go there?"
"Ok just follow my lead."
Juno walked to her mother giving her a nuzzle. That had become their secret code for 'going out be back later.' They headed towards the exit. Ugga was talking other women, so when no one was paying attention they slipped through the ridges without a sound.
"Come on it's this way." Both girls sprinted in the direction of the infamous lake.
A hoard of flying ferrets bursted out of the grass while the girls ran through them. The unexpected guest took Eep by surprise. She ran closer to Juno. Eep accidentally over stepped right in front of Juno's legs. They both lost their step, tumbled over each other, and rolled around the ground. Juno pins Eep underneath her.
"Tag you're it." Juno jumped off and ran away. Eep chased after her full speed. Juno looked behind her should to see how much of a lead she had on her friend. No Eep in sight, facing forward again she was stunned to see Eep right in front of her running backwards.
Eep taps her in the nose. "You're it." she skidded to a stop and started running in the other direction. The day was spent chasing each other around. They were having so much fun they never made it to the lake.
"We should head back." Juno looked up at the sky. "The men should be coming home soon."
"Oh ummm Juno... which way is home?"
"That's easy. Let's see we headed to the left of the sun this morning. Now the sun is in the second half of the sky so we go that way." They start walking.
"How did you which way to go."
"My people have a great sense of direction."
"Father says you people are nomadic."
"What's nomadic?"
"He said it's some one always wondering around, never getting to where you're going, and then you die."
"Sounds like one of his stories."
"So it's not true? Your group, your family will you stop wondering? Or are you going to leave?"
"We settle here and there. But not for very long and the group will pick up and leave."
Juno looked back at Eep who had stopped walking. Eep looked up at Juno. "And you'll go with them."
Juno walked up in front of Eep. "Yeah it's what we do."
"But I don't want you to go. I'll never see you again."
Juno held her friend's hand. "Lets not think about this right now. Come on we need to get back."
The girls were silent running the whole way back. As soon as the girls sat down with the women the men came through the entrance. Everyone talked and laughed except the girls who kept silent the rest of the day. EEp was the first one back to the cave as the Crood family took their leave.
While the Croods were in their cave Juno kept leaving the canyon to find new things. Everyday she would go a new direction. Most of the time it was empty desert. But there was still something to see. She would observe the plant life and any wild life she could find. One day while sun bathing on a rock she was startled by a rustling in the tall grass. She slides off the rock and started to stalk the noise. 'This isn't so hard. I don't see what the big deal is.' she finds a small family of rodents. Getting into a pouncing position She charges at the animals. They scatter and run away, Juno not being sure which one to go after bounces back and forth through the grass. Finally giving up the chase Juno lays on her back and catches her breath. 'Man I need a partner'
Every chance they would get the girls would leave the canyon. Juno would show Eep the places she had already seen showing her new, sometimes scary, exciting things.
"Eep I want you to teach me something."
"What in the world could I teach you? You know everything."
"Show me how to hunt"
They found a lone baby, but still large, harich.(head and body of a rabbit, legs and beck of an ostrich, but larger then both) Once they stopped their prey they came up with a strategy.
"Juno go get in position."
They head off in different direction. Once in position Eep runs out of hiding, making loud noises, and chases the animal towards Juno's hiding spot on top of a rock. Juno jumps on top the animal's back pulling at it's floppy ears trying to take it down. It runs into a tree trying to knock Juno off, But Juno held tight. It runs into another tree and a boulder tiring both of them. Juno jump out in front of the animal still holding onto the ears causing it to flip over her. Once on the ground Eep grabs it's legs.
Juno still holding the ears keeps the animal in place by pinning it's head to the ground "We did it. we caught it. Wow what a rush."
"Yeah. so what do we do with it."
"Well it would be a waste to kill it. We can't bring it back to the canyon." Juno looked around. "I got an idea. Eep grab my hand."
Eep lets go of the legs and grabs onto Juno. The creature struggles to get back to it's feet while Juno jumps onto its back pulling Eep up with her. Using the ears to steer, they rode the animal off to the canyon. Back behind them piercing yellow eyes open inside of the tree that was recently disturbed and a growl is released. Crawling out of the tree and sniffing the air a large long body and tailed jaguar starts stalking the scent.
The girls rode the animal all the way home. Stopping right outside the canyon they hop off. Juno gives the creature a little pat on the side and sets it free. They walked back through the ridges and placed themselves back with the women.
"Where have you been?" Ugga turns to her daughter.
"We've just been around"
"oh well just keep in eye sight. You know how your father worries."
the rest of the day was the same routine. They all ate together and the Croods went back to the cave,
A few days later Juno had been staying with the women to help with chores. Juno over heard the women talking. "Think we'll be heading out soon?""Yeah they said pray is getting harder to find.""They have to travel farther out each time.""Well it was nice while it lasted.""But to tell the truth I'm ready to get moving again."
Shaking from the words, Juno jumped up and ran to the back of the clearing and started climbing the stone wall. She needed to get away. She needed a chance to think. Reaching the top, Juno started pacing back and forth. They would be leaving soon and she would never see her friend again. She knew this time would come. They had been there for over six months. That's the longest her group had ever staying in one place. But it just wasn't enough time for her. How would she tell Eep?
'Maybe we could just leave and the next time them came out we would be gone. That would be easiest. No her friend deserved better than that.' She would tell Eep next time she was out of the cave.
The Crood were out the next day. The men and Grug were gone and the girls were sitting with the women. Juno leaned in to whisper to Eep. "We need to talk. Lets take a walk." They head to the back wall next to the cave.
"What did you need to talk to me about?"
"Well you see... umm..." Juno places her hand at the back of her neck. "I don't know how to say this." She looks Eep in the eyes. "Your my friend and I though..."
A scream from the women cause the girls spin around. All the women were running towards them, on their trail was a large jaguar. Eep grabs Junos hand and pulls her towards the cave."We need to get in."
"What? No! My mother is out there" She pulls her hand out of Eep's grip and started running to the women.
"Mother, mom"
Juno doesn't see her in the crowd as the women run pass her. Trailing at the end of the pack her mother ran while the jaguar was closing the gap between them.
'She's not going to make it.' Juno runs forward, passing her mother, facing the beast head on. The jaguar takes its sights off River and focuses on Juno. Juno slid through the big cat's legs as it tried to swat her head off, just barely missing. The jaguar does a one eighty and chases after her. Juno runs up a wall and flips over the the wild animal. Landing on its tail, the big cat started running around in circles trying to catch her. Not being able to flick Juno off, the jaguar runs full speed to one of the stone walls. Turning at the last second it hits it's side against the wall, the tail smashing into the wall as well.
But Juno doesn't let go. Shaking off the shock of impact, she starts to climb the tail up to the body. The big cat runs at another wall. Juno prepares for another encounter with the wall. In a split second the jaguar jumps high into the air, and opens these flaps of extra skin from underneath it's arms.
They were gliding through the air, going almost to the top of the stone walls. The beast spins and takes a nose dive scraping it's back against the the wall. The collision forces Juno off to the side of the beast while she held on for dear life.
The jaguar swats its claw at its side. Trying to reach Juno, the jaguar looses balance in the air. Correcting its body the jaguar climbed higher in the air for round two.
Taking advantage of the distraction Juno climbs back on the beast's back. As the beast descended, Juno sprang into action and grabbed one of the flaps. She brought the flap back towards the jaguar's body. The jaguar started spinning out of control, falling head first, and making them both dizzy. But Juno refused to let go.
As they fell to their deaths she closed her eyes waiting for certain death. She would not let this monster anywhere near friends and family. If that meant dieing with the beast, she was ready to make that sacrifice.
Right before impact, a scream came out from somewhere in her mind. "JUNO"
She opened her eyes and jumped off the jaguar, slamming into the ground and rolling away from the animal. The jaguar smashed head first into the ground laid there motionless.
It took five women to remove the boulder. they cautiously walked out, River pushed her way through the group and ran to her daughter.
"Juno! Juno, come on sweetie open your eyes." She frantically pulled Juno's head into her lap. "Come on, come on, please wake up."
"Mom are you ok?" Juno's voice came out weak and raspy.
River wipes the tears from her eyes. "Everything's fine baby. The monster is dead. You can rest now." Juno closed her eyes and went to sleep while River stroke her hair.
"Time to wake up Juno. You've been sleeping all day." Juno sat up beside her mother. The women crowded around her in a semi circle.
One woman spoke for the group. "We made something for you to show our appreciation." The women unfolded a jaguar print fur blanket big enough to fit her entire family. "We made it from your kill."
Ugga stepped forward with a two piece jaguar print outfit. "We sewed it to replace you ripped up clothes." Juno looked down realizing she was half naked "And I helped" Eep added.
Juno changed into her new outfit and wrapped herself in the blanket. Each woman came over to nuzzle her to show gratitude for what she was willing to sacrifice. They all went back to work cutting up the rest of the meat.
River turned to her daughter. "Here" she handed Juno a jaguar printed rope. "I used the tail cutting three pieces length wise and braided them together. It should be very strong." Then she held out a sharp knife. "I grinded one of the fangs into a weapon for you. Just in case you get into trouble on your adventures."
Juno took the knife and tucked in into the back of her shorts. "Thank you. I love it."
River pulled her daughter into a hug. "What you did today, it scared me to death." A tear felll down her cheek. "But it made me realize you can take car of yourself. You are meant for great thing Juno. Just be careful. But more importantly follow your heart."
The men came back from hunting. Seeing the dead carcus, they dropped everything and ran to their women inspecting them to make sure they were all right.
Grug gets to his family. "What happened here. Is anyone hurt."
"We're fine dad. Juno saved us. She killed the beast." Eep explained.
Grug looked over to the Wind family and gave Juno a nod of gratitude.
Salamander reached his girls. "I'm so glad you two weren't hunt. I don't know what I'd do if I came back and you were..." Stump pulled Salamander back and grabbed Juno by the neck slamming her against the wall.
"You did this. You brought this beast here. With all your snooping around it followed you right to us." Still sore from the earlier battle Juno couldn't fight back. Clawing at his arms Juno couldn't breath.
"Get off of her" River was yanking at Stumps arm but he wouldn't budge. "Who's to say it didn't follow the males back to camp." Stump threw Juno to the side and stared down at River.
Salamander put himself between his wife and his leader. "She's just trying to say is that we can't be sure how it found us. The important thing is everyone is alive and safe."
Stump stomped away furious that he couldn't argue their point. "Come on let's go." Grug pushes his family back into the cave. "It's not safe out there."
After eating more then their fill the Wind family cuddles together in the jaguar blanket and fell asleep.
Everything went back to normal in the days to come. The Croods came out of their cave. Grug went to hunt with the men. The girls were just about to sneak out when River stepped in front of them. "Not today girls. We have a lot to do. " The day was spent doing hundred of little jobs.
The men came back and there was more excitement in the air. "Ok people eat well and make sure you have everything for tomorrow. We leave before dawn" Stump announced.
"What? Tomorrow? But I need more time to say goodbye."
I gave you a full day with your little partner there. Show some gratitude for once. We should have left the day that monster attacked."
Juno jumped up and ran away. She climbed the wall to the top of the cliff. All alone watching the sun set she couldn't hold back here tears anymore. She screamed at the top of her lungs and collapsed onto the ground curling into the fetal position.
"Juno" Eep peaked her head up. "Juno it is going to be alright." She sat on her knees facing Juno. "You leaving is not the end of the world" Juno lifted her head to look at Eep. "Who knows maybe someday our paths will cross again"
"No chance. I told you my group never travels the same place twice." Juno looked up and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"As long as we are both out there, there will always be a chance." Eep and Juno sat up and watched the sun set together.
"Eep come down from there. It's almost dark and I have to close the cave" her father called from below.
"Dad please this is important"
"Ok just this once. Come down when your done."
The sun was almost gone at that point. "It's so beautiful. Look at all the colors. I've never seen it disappear like this before." Eep stared in aww.
"Yeah and it's different every time."
"We should have done this a long time ago."
"How would we have done that? This is the first time you have ever been out this late."
"Yeah I should probably be heading back now."
"No" She grabbed Eeps hand. "Please wait."
"I don't really like the dark."
"Please it will be fine. Lay down and close your eyes." They both laid down on the ground with their eyes closed.
"Can I open them?"
"No not yet one more minute" They waited in silence. "Ok now."
They opened their eyes and took in the magical sight. The sky was filled with millions of little lights. "You see there is no reason to fear the night." Juno said calming her friend. "Even at night the lights still shine bright in the sky."
"Thank you for sharing this with me. It is the most beautiful thin I have ever seen"
They stood us still holding hands. Eep headed for the edge of the cliff. "No wait" Juno pulled Eep back. "Eep I'm going to miss you."
"I'll miss you too"
Juno leaned into Eep's face. Her lips pressed against her friend's lips for a chaste kiss. Eep stood perfectly still as Juno pulled away.
"What was that?" Eep asked with confusion in her voice.
"I don't know I've never done that before."
"Me neither. Lets make a promise. Promise that we will never share that with anyone else. That it will only be ours forever."
"Deal"
They pressed their lips together again with a quick peck and climbed down the cliff. Both fathers waited for their daughters to return. Juno walked over to Grug "Good bye Mr. Crood sir."
Grug nudge her chin with his knuckle. "Your a good kid. stay safe darling."
"You know you could come with us" Salamander offered Grug. "Game is getting scarce and it's only going to get more difficult to survive if you stay here."
"We'll survive. We always do." Grug wrapped his arms around Eep. " What about you? Have you ever thought about just staying? Our families would keep each other safe."
"No thanks." Salamander put his arm around Juno. "We were meant to travel. The group is hard to deal with at times. But it fills our need to keep moving. Maybe one day our instinct will kick in and we might settle down."
"Nomads, I'll never understand your kind. When your ready we will be here." the men fist bumped and went there separate ways.
The group went to sleep early but Juno couldn't close her eyes. Her head was filled with sadness and excitement. She would miss her friend but she was getting antsy staying in one place. The thought of staying in cave scared her more than the jaguar beast she defeated. Grug was right about them. They were nomads and she loved everything about it.
The next time the Crood family came out of their home the clearing was empty. No sign that anyone was even there.