Disclaimer: I don't own the Croods. Would be nice if I did.
Trigger: None that I can think of.
Warning: Mild violence at the beginning.
Catch & Release II – The Journey Continues
By Juliette Lyst
Bound
Sometimes… Guy thought to himself, swallowing hard. We can be in the wrong place at the wrong time…
As the massive serpent rose, its slit pupils looked from one person to another… before it picked a target.
That target, unfortunately, was Guy.
As he saw the massive form rush towards him, Guy hefted his spear, planting the butt end into the ground before he dropped into a crouch. He tightened his muscles, holding the spear firmly in place.
"Guy!" Grug called, as he saw the young man's legs disappear as the snake's mouth snapped closed on him.
Or rather… as it attempted to close on him.
The razor-sharp edge of Guy's spear had lodged itself right in the roof of the snake's mouth, piercing through the skin.
The serpent pulled back quickly, rearing its head and shaking it, struggling to dislodge the spear.
As Guy watched the thing struggle, he straightened up from his crouch. "Grug, I need a boost."
"W…huh?" the big man asked, confused.
With a sigh, Guy pointed to the snake. "A boost."
"Ohh…" Grug muttered. Resigned, he picked up Guy.
"Don't forget this!" Ugga spoke up, handing her spear to the young man.
Looking at it, Guy grinned before Grug launched him directly towards the snake. Thankfully, he managed to avoid piercing himself on the spikes on its body, using them as handholds, scrambling up quickly… right back into its mouth.
Who knew something so big would have such a huge hole in its defense?
As the snake felt the feet on its tongue, it threw its head back, trying to force whatever it was to slide down into its throat.
"Nope!" Guy replied, managing to grab a hold of the original spear.
The angle pushed the weapon in further and aggravated the snake's injury.
"Guy!" Ugga called, alarmed to see how quickly the snake moved.
"What do we do?" Eep asked, eyes wide. She remembered how a serpent just like this one… had eaten an entire family they were neighbors to.
"I don't know," Grug replied. He couldn't believe the younger man had done that.
Guy felt the vibration as the snake violently hissed in reaction to the additional pain. "Got something for you!" he called, cheerfully. As the snake moved its head to a nearly vertical position, Guy tightened the muscles in his arm and shoulder, hurling the second spear down into the snake's throat. He knew it had landed… somewhere, when the creature started letting out choking noises.
The massive creature, struggled to breathe past the object lodged right in its windpipe. Gradually, it lowered down to the ground until its head was sitting right in the dust.
Guy stepped out of its still open mouth.
"Whoa!" Thunk exclaimed. "Did you kill it?"
Looking over his shoulder, Guy looked at the beast as it continued to struggle to breathe. "Not yet," he replied.
"Oh," the young boy responded, a little confused now.
"Time to go," Guy added, turning his back on the animal fully and walking towards Chunky.
"Wha?" Grug started. "We just going to leave it here?"
"Yep," the young man replied. "We can't do anything else but that."
"What if it recovers?" Ugga asked, reluctantly turning to follow Guy.
Pausing, Guy glanced over his shoulder, seeing how a bit of clear fluid was beginning to come out of the snake's nostrils. "It won't," he replied, bluntly. The thing, he knew, was going to eventually drown in its own saliva or bleed to death. He didn't want to stick around to see that.
"Come on, family" Grug called.
All of them returned to where they knew the death cat and Dawn were.
The young woman had felt confused, then frightened when she found herself suddenly right in front of Chunky's face. The big cat's paws were around her, his big head blocking her view of what was going on below.
Hearing the noises below frightened her. She clearly heard something enormous smash into the ground. Guy's name was called shortly after that. Not wanting to hear anymore, she put her hands on her ears and curled up, shivering.
The big cat let out a soft moan and nuzzled her with his soft cheek.
The touch was soothing—something she needed because it was getting to be too much already. She had already felt ill during their harried trek to get away from whatever animal that was. Now, all she felt was worse.
Her teeth grit together as her stomach began to hurt again… but this time, further down. What? she worried in alarm, fear of another kind hitting her. Thankfully, after a moment, the pain eased, but now she felt more uncertain than before. What if the stress was hurting the baby?
Tears began to fill her eyes. We can't keep doing this… she thought to herself, beginning to cry as the pain returned. It's not safe… She wasn't able to respond right away when she felt a hand on her back.
"Dawn? What's wrong?"
"Guy…" she replied, his words sounding disjointed to her ears. "It hurts… So much…"
Feeling chilled, Ugga moved over to the young woman. "Where Dawn?" she asked. "Where does it hurt?"
The young woman groaned, wrapping her arms around her lower belly, a grimace on her face before she lost consciousness.
"Dawn—"
Four Days Later…
Early Morning
Dawn hummed, resting her head on Guy's chest. She idly traced shapes on his stomach.
The young man smiled, soothingly rubbing her back.
They'd taken shelter in one of the caves in the mountain, after Ugga told the family that they couldn't move Dawn very far. After they reached this cave, Ugga had shooed everyone out—even her mother and Eep—as she examined Dawn. She fortunately hadn't found any blood, but it could have been very close.
Once the older woman let everyone back in—and assured them all was well, everyone decided it was best to stay for a few days to rest. At the least.
Guy was just relieved that Dawn and the baby were alright. For a while, he'd felt very anxious…
"Mff," Dawn grunted, scooting away just a little.
"Everything alright?" he asked, immediately on alert.
"Need to relieve myself," she grumbled in reply, startled when Guy picked her up. "You…"
"I gotcha."
"You don't need to," she murmured, embarassed.
"That's true," he spoke in a soft tone, walking to the area they had designated as their current latrine. "But I want to."
Sighing, Dawn wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thanks," she muttered into his chest.
"Mm?"
"Thank you," she spoke up a little more.
"No," Guy replied, feeling warm. "Thank you."
The young woman grew quiet then, a small smile on her mouth.
Two Days Later…
Early Evening
"Everyone packed up?" Guy asked, fastening his and Dawn's supplies onto the macawnivore.
"Yeah," Grug replied.
"Sure." Eep added.
"We're all packed and ready to go." Ugga said, grinning.
Returning that smile, Guy hurried over to retrieve Dawn. Picking her up carefully, he walked over to the cat.
Gran sniffed, grimacing. "Not leaving a day too late!"
The stench from the dead and decaying snake began reaching them earlier that morning.
The family scrambled onto the cat's back and soon they were back on their way.
Dawn leaned back against Guy's chest, humming again as he held her securely.
This time, Guy took extra precautions and had her legs secured before they started to move.
"Do you think I should leave it like this?" she asked, fiddling with the tail end of her braid. Since childhood, she'd kept her hair long and over time needed to braid it to keep it free of snags. Until recently, the habit had been a necessity.
"Up to you," he replied softly. "It's your hair."
"True," she replied. "But you like it loose." Her lips turned up at the corners.
"Hmm…" he hummed, trying to think then. "While that is also true," he began. "It's still your hair. You can choose what you want to do with it."
Tilting her head back, Dawn snorted. "I want to go swimming," she stated bluntly.
"Ah," Guy started, confused. "That's not quite a…" his words trailed off as he surveyed the very flat and very dry terrain around them.
Nothing but solid land. No water… anywhere.
"Yeah, I know," Dawn frowned. "Still want to do it though."
Quietly sitting in front of them, Eep's eyes were narrowed to slits. She hoped they stopped soon. All of them. She hadn't fully forgiven the couple for what they did.
And… she wanted space from both of them. Instead of this constant need to be together in such cramped quarters.
"Maybe we could make a sand pool? Though all you'd be able to do is roll around in it." Guy winced when she pinched him, but still held a smirk in place.
"That's not the type of swimming I meant and you know that," the young woman grumbled.
He lightly tickled her sides. "That's true, but we won't be able to go swimming for a while."
"How long?" Ugga asked, keeping her gaze forwards—alert to their surroundings.
"I…" Guy let out a soft sigh. "I don't know."
"What do you mean?" Thunk asked, whimpering from where he sat. So much had happened in such a short span of time… and he wasn't coping with any of it well.
"We're looking for Tomorrow," Guy began, choosing his words carefully. "But what's between Tomorrow and here… That I don't know."
"Oh," Thunk mumbled, looking down. "We'll get there soon though?" he asked.
Guy bit his bottom lip, trying to figure out how to answer. "We will, Thunk," Guy replied. "Right on time."
Dawn shifted a little, half closing her eyes. "Guy?"
"Hm?"
"Sorry again," she murmured.
"For…?" he inquired, dark brows squeezing together.
"I should…" she stated, a bit of heat to her voice. "Have cracked you over the head with your spear before we headed in this direction."
Guy jerked just a little in reflex. "Uh…"
With her back to them, Eep perked up at that.
"That might have solved and prevented a few problems," Dawn continued.
Guy remained silent, uncertain what he should say.
Three Days Later
Early Morning
It seemed… that Dawn's mood had a direct effect on everyone else. While still disappointed in Guy, she was also too drowsy to complain but so much.
Everyone else was moving at a sedate pace.
Except Chunky.
No.
The death cat kept going at the exact same speed.
The constant stretch of barren land was leading to another problem. Namely… they were running out of food and their water supplies were not looking too good either.
At current, all of them were getting as much rest as they could. To make it easier for Chunky, everyone had decided to travel when the sun was lower in the sky.
The only one up this morning was Dawn. Sitting with her knees to her chest, Dawn sighed and glanced to the left… at where they'd come from. Unfortunately, nothing awaited them back there. It was likely that other predators had already stumbled on that snake… so returning would be dangerous.
Licking her lips, she got up, walking a few feet away from their camp. Squinting just a bit, she surveyed the land ahead of them, wondering if there was something… anything out there. She and Guy worked together to keep everyone going in the same direction… but where they'd ultimately end was anyone's guess.
Sighing, she took a few more steps away, folding her arms. Things were getting stretched thin.
Too thin.
She was wracking her brain, trying to figure out a way she could help. So far though… nothing. Feeling someone's touch normally would have startled her—but there were only so many people out here.
"Problem?" Guy murmured, his hands resting on her shoulders.
Dawn nodded lightly, but took some time to gather her thoughts.
Guy waited patiently, beginning to gently massage her shoulders.
"You said you didn't know how far we would have to go," she responded. "And we're running low on water," She felt it when Guy's hands stopped momentarily. "And food too."
Resuming his ministrations, Guy cleared his throat. "That's true…"
"Can…" Dawn hesitated, looking at the ground under her feet. "Can we try to dig?"
"For…?"
"For water, Guy," she stated clearly. Again, she felt his hands stop.
"That… might just work, Dawn."
Before she was able to say anything else, Guy was already gathering a few of them together to start digging for water.
Late Afternoon
Yawning, Dawn stretched and sat a safe distance away from the fire. Her hunch had proven true and a good supply of water was tapped just a few feet down. Considering the location, it was a very good find indeed.
The death cat was lying down next to her, purring. The giant ball of fluff was able to get enough water too.
Hoping to separate the sand and water quickly, they decided to lightly boil it, cool it and store it away. It would have been easier to just fill their skins and run, but there was the whole problem with it being drinkable.
No one wanted a mouthful of wet sand.
Someone had to watch the pots, which Dawn was doing at current. She blinked a few times, propping her knees up and resting her elbows on them. The work was tedious… and staring at fire all morning into the afternoon was making her tired.
Guy plopped down onto the ground next to her. "Brought a snack," he said, offering her a surprising treat.
"… Where did you find this?" she asked, staring at the yellowish, sticky hunk of fruit in his hand.
"A mile or so away. There's lots of them, so I think we're closer to a forest."
Dawn was speechless, her eyes wide.
"Dawn?" Guy asked, a brow rising.
Instead of taking the treat from him, she ate it from his fingers, locking eyes with him.
Guy gulped, brows nearly reaching his hairline.
She slowly licked the sticky juice off his fingers before climbing into his lap and wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Uhh… Dawn?" he asked, his voice sounding strangled.
"Thank you," she responded, pressing her forehead against his.
He smiled wide. "I'm glad you like it," he murmured, wrapping his arms around her waist.
Purring faintly, she licked her lips, still tasting sweetness on her tongue. "I really do," she spoke softly. "Somehow… you found food for me… again."
In a seemingly deserted wasteland at that.
His eyes softened. "That's why I looked so far," he replied, his voice low. "I know you like sweet things," he added. "And figured the baby might have a sweet tooth too."
Flushing faintly, Dawn pressed a kiss to his neck before moving to his mouth.
He readily responded.
They were so distracted that they didn't hear the first time Gran cleared her throat.
The second time, the old woman scowled, reaching out with her cane, and smacking the ground right next to them.
Jumping, the couple broke their embrace.
"That's better!" the old woman commented, walking past them. "Things were so different when I was young…"
Tuning her out, the young couple stared at each other again, eyes dark with desire.
Dawn pressed her body close to him again, her breathing heavy… fingers locking behind his neck.
"…ve more to set up. Do you… Dawn?" Eep's eyes widened, not sure what she was seeing. She nearly dropped the bowl she was holding.
The young brunette blinked, hearing her name, but was unsure where it came from.
Guy also seemed equally confused.
It didn't help matters that they were only focused on each other.
"Uhh…" Eep's mouth suddenly felt dry as they turned to look at her at the same time.
Setting the bowl down, eyes wide, the young redhead backed away from them.
Late Evening
Relief was visible on everyone's faces as they finally poured the last bowl of water into a skin.
Grunting lightly, Guy tightened the cork and adjusted it slightly.
"Time for bed," Grug stated. "We'll be taking the cat out at first's light." His family obediently began getting set up for the sleep pile.
"Ah… We'll just take a different spot, if that's okay," Guy stated, holding their bedding.
"Huh?" Grug asked.
"We're just going to sleep a little bit away…" Dawn explained, holding their waterskins.
"It's dangerous out there." Grug replied, shaking his head. "Croods stick together."
"Umm…" Guy began, then paused and slowly walked backwards.
Looking to where he'd gone, Dawn didn't even bother to say anything else and followed after him.
Not long after, they weren't visible in the low light.
"Are they gonna be safe out there?" Eep asked. Sure, she was angry with Guy… but she didn't want him seriously hurt.
Sighing and rolling her eyes, Ugga laid her head down. "Bedtime, kids!"
Soon, the only sound in the camp was snores.
Mid-Morning
The sound of their travel was punctuated by Dawn's snores. Her hair was untied, the long tresses fanning out where she was seated.
Guy didn't seem the least bit effected, holding her securely in place, his chin resting on her shoulder. His ears were the closest thing to her mouth, but he remained silent.
It wasn't the same… for the rest of the family.
Gran irritably had fingers plugged in her ears.
Eep squinted at the noise.
As did her parents.
Thunk had both hands slapped over his ears, with Sandy doing the same.
After a few more minutes of it, Eep groaned. "Guuyy!" she whined. "Can you make it stop?!"
Guy cleared his throat. "Does… is it bothering you?" he asked, gently nudging Dawn awake and sitting up straight.
"Mmm?" the young brunette asked, yawning.
"Well actuall—"
"Lay off, Eep!" Thunk called over. "She's just tired."
"Th—"
"Right Guy?" the young boy asked.
"Uh…" Guy looked over his shoulder. "Y… Yes?"
"I knew it!" he responded, grinning. "What did you see?"
Confused, Guy's brow wrinkled. "What do you mean?"
"Well," Thunk started, "At first I wasn't sure, because there weren't any other animals out here."
"Hmm?" Dawn murmured, straightening up a little now that she was more awake. "Animals?"
"Yeah!" Thunk replied. "But there had to be. I heard it!"
"Heard… it?" Grug asked. He hadn't heard anything at all.
"Well, at first I wasn't sure what it was," he paused and laughed. "I know it wasn't that snake again,"
"Ah, no." Ugga offered.
"Then, I wondered if Chunky was stuck by one of those prickly patchy things," the young boy was referring to an unfortunate incident where the death cat got too close to a cactus. The resulting howl frightened all of them, especially the macawnivore.
"He was not," Grug stated. The cat looked absolutely fine that morning.
"Yeah… Cause he was here with us," Thunk replied. "But then I figured out that it must have been a pack of liyotes."
"Liyotes?" Guy asked, even more bewildered now.
"Yeah. There had to be more than one," Thunk continued. "They were fighting too, I think."
"Why would you say that, Thunk?" Dawn asked. She didn't remember seeing anything at all out there.
"One of them kept howling," the young boy responded. "Or at least I think it was a howl…" Now he sounded uncertain. "Strangest howl I ever heard."
"Howl?" Eep asked, doubt in her voice. "Naw, Thunk. I would have heard it!" She well knew what the animal sounded like.
"Yeah," Thunk agreed, fidgeting. "It was this strange, choking howl… sort of how that snake sounded… but more intense," he paused momentarily. "And less like a snake."
"Lioyte with a choking howl?" Guy asked, puzzled.
Dawn, had tensed up a little, brows pinching together… trying to understand.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Guy spoke slowly. "I didn't hear anything like that out there," his brows furrowed. "Did you, Dawn?"
Snorting, and glad her hair was down, Dawn shook her head. At least, she could hide the growing blush on her face behind her dark tresses. She was beginning to suspect she knew what Thunk had heard.
"Choking howl?" Ugga asked. "Can you explain it a little better?" Now, she was curious… and a bit concerned about what else might be out there.
"Yeah," Thunk replied. "It sounded like—" he proceeded to attempt to imitate what he'd heard.
The young couple stiffened up.
"Ah—That's enough, Thunk! That's enough!" Ugga raised her voice, trying to quiet her son down. As soon as he starting making the sounds, she knew exactly what her little boy had heard last night.
"So, I was right, right?" Thunk asked. "Guy! Did you see what was out there? What was it? Liyotes, right?"
The young man's face was bright red. "Um… Ah, no. There was nothing out there, Thunk."
"Aww," he pouted. "Really? Not even that injured one?"
"Injured?" Eep asked. "What did it sound like—"
"No! That's fine, Thunk! We'll take your word for it!" Dawn spoke up, hiding most of her face behind her hair. Sighing heavily, she cleared her throat. "Nothing was out there. Don't' worry."
"Oh…" After that, the young boy quieted. He scowled. He knew he'd heard something, but what…?
Mumbling something, Dawn leaned back against Guy again.
"Going back to sleep?" he asked lightly.
She groaned. "Can't help it," she replied, her words wobbly. "I'm so tired…" she grumbled.
"And whose fault is that?" he asked in a hushed tone.
"Yours," she responded in the same tone.
Blushing, Guy cleared his throat and raised his voice to be heard by everyone. "If we all keep moving forward, we'll see more plants past the fruit."
"How do you know?" Gran asked.
They had already passed the fruit Dawn really liked. Unexpectedly, they were finding themselves passing several scatterings of different fruit trees or bushes.
"Huh?" Guy questioned, becoming absentminded and running his fingers through Dawn's hair. She was already falling asleep, but he adjusted her so she wouldn't snore quite so much.
"About the extra plants!" the old woman remarked.
"Oh," Guy muttered, laughing lightly. "I've experienced it before… the desert leading to a forested area," he paused momentarily, wondering if he should share more. Opting not to for the time being, he held more of the details back, save a few. "It won't be long now." He finished.
"A forest," Eep commented, more than done with this barren land already. "Never thought I would be happier to see trees."
"You're not wrong," Ugga remarked. "Should be easier to find food in there too."
The entire family voiced agreement.
Fresh food would be good for all of them.
Early Evening
"Slow down!" Guy cried, trying to keep Dawn from burning herself.
The roasted meat was barely on her leaf before she sunk her fingers into it and shoved as much as she could into her mouth. The young brunette made some sort of comment back to him, but her mouth was too full to be understood.
"He's right, Dawn," Ugga spoke softly, sitting next to her. She rested a hand on the young woman's shoulder.
Fanning her mouth, Dawn finished chewing and swallowed. "Mm… Maybe?" she agreed, still fanning her mouth afterwards.
"Just give it a few minutes, Dawn," Ugga replied, taking in the young woman's sulky expression. "I know you're hungry, but please just wait."
She let out a high-pitched squeak, visibly pouting.
"It'll be okay, Dawn." Eep offered, plopping down to sit across from the young brunette.
"Yeah," Thunk responded, waiting eagerly for his leaf. "We're used to being hungry."
Grug frowned—as he had, off and on—for most of their journey. He knew food was scarce where they were from. Or… was it that he never thought of different ways to acquire food?
He wasn't entirely sure, but he certainly felt inadequate right then.
"It's fine, Grug." Ugga stated, noting the look on her mate's face. "We did the best with what we had."
"Did we?" Grug asked, his appetite suddenly disappearing.
"Yeah, you did," Guy replied.
When Grug looked at him, he was surprised to see Guy's wide smile.
"Life is completely different where you were from, if what I heard is right. It's amazing you were able to get any food at all."
"Dad let all of us eat first too," Thunk added. "He thought of himself last."
"Oh," Grug commented. "I was just—"
"Putting your family first." Guy interrupted him. "It's what dad's do."
"Yeah," the bigger man agreed. Then, he offered Guy a small smile. "Which you'll find out about soon."
Guy blushed, feeling warm from that knowledge, his heart speeding up a little… he was so eager to see his child. "Y-Yeah," he replied. "I just…" Working his jaw, he set his own leaf down carefully and sat next to Dawn. "I hope I do as good of a job."
Grug's thick, bushy brows rose at that.
"Now?" Dawn asked softly.
Guy nodded. "Sure," he replied quietly, picking up his leaf and setting it in his lap.
The young woman tucked into her meal hungrily.
"Do… do you think we should do what Dawn did?" Grug asked, feeling his appetite thankfully return.
"Do… what?" Guy asked.
"Smoke some of this," Grug replied, gesturing to the roasting animal. "To store for later?"
"Hmm…" Guy thought about that. "We can do that, yeah… will need an additional fire."
Night
Suppressing a yawn, the young brunette was on her feet, already going for a walk. To be on the safe side, she was holding her spear. Sash was perched on her shoulders as she walked.
It also didn't hurt that Guy was right next to her, keeping pace easily.
"You helped us a lot in the desert," he commented.
"Hmm?" she asked, glancing to him.
"I never thought to dig for water," the young man explained.
"You never did that… before?" Dawn was referring to when he was a child. She knew he'd traveled a long way through the desert before they met up again.
Brows wrinkling, Guy shook his head.
"How… How did you survive out there?" Dawn asked, her eyes wide.
"I was very fortunate. It started raining one day."
"Oh,"
"I didn't have anything at all… nothing except what I was wearing."
"But… you had that pack."
"Mm—yeah," he replied. "You got one too, remember?"
"Oh…" Dawn's brows jumped lightly as she remembered. "You made one for me."
He grinned. "You needed to be able to carry your own things."
"And had my own space for little things I wanted to keep," Dawn returned his grin. "You also helped me with making my clothes… thank you for that."
"Glad I was able to help," he replied. After some companionable silence, he spoke again. "I want to make something for the baby too."
Dawn glanced at him. "I want to help you."
"You can," he responded. "There's only one problem with that though…"
"What's that?" she asked, one brow crinkling.
"We'd have to stay in the same place for some weeks," he spoke, noting her frown. "And you won't like the smell of what I have to use to make the fur usable."
"Normally, I would disagree and say that we could stay…" she spoke, the frown still in place. "But we need to keep moving while we can."
"While we can?" Guy asked, keeping his eyes and ears alert to potential dangers.
Grabbing his arm, Dawn pulled him to a stop. "Guy," she breathed, "I'm going to get to where I can't travel far at all." She grimaced faintly. "I'm already a bit uncomfortable riding as it is."
Guy looked at her, his mouth moving soundlessly.
"Guy?"
"I," he paused, averting his gaze briefly. Running his fingers through his hair, he nodded. "You're right," What she said sunk in. "It feels bad riding?"
Dawn nodded. "It makes me feel tired and a little sick sometimes. I want to sleep… rather than deal with being so ill."
"I can keep your legs propped up," he offered. "Belt has helped before with that."
"That's true," she agreed. "But it won't work when the baby's coming." She squinted slightly as her mate appeared to be… "Guy," Once she was sure she had his attention, she shook her head. "I can't give birth on the back of that cat!"
"We might be able to set up a pallet," Guy spoke, sinking back into thought. "That could help… yes."
She stomped. "Guy! I will not be having our child on the Chunky's back! Not happening!"
"But—"
"No!" Dawn gestured as if she was done with the conversation. "Not happening!" she repeated.
Frowning, Guy folded his arms, but nodded.
Exhaling in a rush, Dawn resumed walking, with Guy right by her side.
Early Morning
Chocolate brown eyes opened slowly, and Dawn blindly groped for Guy. When she didn't find him, she rubbed her eyes and sat up. "Guy?"
The sloths chittered, waking up too.
The young couple had their bedding set up across the fire from the Croods.
Yawning and stretching, Dawn stood up. "Guy?" she called again. Not hearing or seeing him, she sighed. "Come on, Sash!" She picked up the sloth and walked further from the camp, to ease her screaming bladder.
Not long after, she heard a scraping sound coming from somewhere further away in the forest. What is…?
Alarm filled her, and she rushed back into the camp. "Get up!" she yelled.
The Croods stumbled over each other, but got to their feet quickly.
"What's wrong?" Grug asked, picking up the biggest rock he could find.
Dawn held up both hands. "I'm not sure. There's something moving in the forest… and it's coming this way."
"Where's Guy?" Ugga asked, noticing the young man was absent.
"I don't know!" Dawn replied, her voice shaking.
Hurrying over, Ugga pulled her into a hug. "He'll be along. We need to get moving."
Dawn swallowed hard, pausing to look at the wooded area. "Are… are you sure?"
Ugga nodded, gently guiding the young woman to the macawnivore. "Just as a precaution."
"I'll get their things together, mom!" Eep called.
"I'm helping Eep!" Thunk added, moving to his sister to do just that.
"Thanks kids!"
"Family, let's get everything together and get ready to leave!" Grug yelled.
Everyone fell into step at his command.
Ugga helped Dawn get up on the cat.
"Ugga…" the young woman whimpered.
The older woman paused and looked at her.
"…I'm scared," she admitted. "What if something happened to Guy?"
"Guy is resourceful," Ugga replied. "He'll be just fine."
"But… what if he's not?" Dawn asked, her eyes teary.
Ugga climbed on the cat behind Dawn. "Don't worry about that," Ugga murmured.
"But—I"
"Sshh," Ugga spoke softly, gratefully accepting one of the blankets the couple used from Eep and placed it over Dawn. "Just rest." she murmured.
Eep also gave Belt a boost into Dawn's blanketed lap, then secured their supplies to the cat. She had to be careful, not wanting to overbalance him, as they had already packed the meat after smoking it.
The sloth happily joined the young brunette and Sash.
Dawn leaned back against Ugga; her face turned away from the camp.
"That's it," Ugga urged, noticing how Dawn had stopped shivering.
Gran, Sandy and Thunk were just taking their spots on the cat when they heard the sound of a stick snapping. It was a few yards away, but the Croods were hardwired at this point to literally sniff out danger.
"…Get up here, Eep." Ugga spoke.
"Mom?" the young redhead asked, doing as she was told.
"Take care of Dawn," she said, sliding off the animal's back after making sure that Eep was ready to take her place. "Chunky listens to you," she added. "You can tell him where to go."
"But… Mom?" Eep's eyes widened in alarm as she watched her mother grab two of their spears and walk over to her dad.
"Listen to me, Eep." Ugga replied, looking over her shoulder. "Be ready to get Dawn and the rest of the family out of here."
"What about you two?" she asked, terrified at the idea of leaving her parents behind.
"We'll be okay," Ugga smiled walking over to Grug and handing him one of the spears.
Another snap caught their attention, and the two parents braced themselves and their weapons for whatever was about to come through.
Eep ran her fingers through Chunky's fur, the cat purring in response to her touch. "Chunky, we need to take it slow if we have to leave."
The death cat let out a little moan in understanding.
Rustling drew their attention to the tree line and everyone braced themselves.
And waited.
To Be Continued…
Author's Notes: Hey there! Thanks for sticking around! I really enjoy writing for this couple. It's a lot of fun!
I really wish other people wrote for Guy/Dawn though. Would be nice!
Love you all and see you later!
XXO
~J. Lyst