Because I love both Guy and Eep, but I thought it'd be cool if she taught Guy something for a change.

Summary: Eep teaches Guy about hunting

DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Croods! And I don't own the cover image.

HIT ME

Heart pounding in his chest, Guy ran, sliding under a branch as he looked back, egg clutched tightly in his hands. As he faced forward, the young man yelped, skidding to take a sharp left, veering away from a rock. He could hear the bird shriek behind him and pushed himself. A bird wasn't supposed to have teeth. "EEP!"

She came from out of nowhere, lifting her hands up with a grin. "Here!"

Throwing the egg as best he could, Guy charged onwards, once again amazed at the cavegirl's agility and coordination as she caught the thing mid-air, somersaulting onto the ground and continuing her run in one, smooth motion.

She was awesome.

Unfortunately, this train of thought caused the young man to slow down, and he screamed when he felt something snap at his legs. Running. Right. Running for his life.

He was seriously regretting his decision to accept a hunting lesson.

Though, in all fairness, it did feel… empowering. Like he was running on the wind. He felt invincible.

Up until the bird snapped at him again. Then, Guy settled for cursing the fact that he left Belt with Sandy. Those preventative measures would have been ridiculously useful.

Scrambling into a nearby tree, Eep called out to her companion, reaching down a hand. She pulled him up just in time, depositing him on a branch as she grinned widely, cheeks red and chest heaving. The bird sqwaked loudly from below, failing in its attempt to fly up and catch them. Seemingly out of nowhere (Guy really had no idea where she got it from), Eep took a rock and let it drop on the animal's head with expert precision, effectively knocking it out. "So?" she asked breathlessly. "Fun, right?"

"Couldn't we have just used a trap?" He felt like he was going to die.

"And ruin the fun?" Honestly, she was almost offended he would ask such a thing. Hunting was sacred. But she was disappointed, too. She wanted him to like hunting… It was really important to her, and she wanted it to be important to him. Cracking the egg open ever so slightly, Eep sucked out half of the golden center before handing it to her friend. "You didn't even like it a little bit?"

He looked at her, completely out of breath as he finished off their snack, only partly wheezing as he shook his head. "No. I mean- yes. Yeah, it was fun. It's just… tiring. So tiring. A trap is so much easier."

"But not as fun."

"And not as dangerous."

"And not as fun."

He grinned. "You said that already."

"Because it's the truth." She gave her own grin in reply. "And it's important."

"It is," he agreed. "…But you could have gotten hurt."

"I didn't."

"Yeah, but you could have."

She rolled her eyes. "So could you. I mean, a person can get hurt all the time if they're not careful. Besides, I wasn't- Oh."

"What?"

"Oh."

And now Guy was nervous. He looked around anxiously. "What? Eep, what?"

"Now I get it," she said, acting as if she'd found the meaning of life itself. "You're just upset."

"Who, me? No! Why would I be upset?"

"Because I'm teaching you something. And because you don't want me to get hurt. And because you almost got hurt."

All very valid points, Guy thought begrudgingly. And, unfortunately, spot on. Yeah, he was upset. He liked showing her new things. He liked the way her eyes lit up when she figured out something novel… But that didn't mean he was opposed to learning, himself. He was just upset that, apparently, he wasn't a quick study, at least where physicality was concerned. Not like her.

Eep was smart and strong.

And it was embarrassing that she had had to save him. I mean, he was supposed to have all the answers. What was his purpose, if not to have ideas and teach?

"But you just need another lesson!" The young woman insisted. "You're good. Really. Just haven't practiced in a while."

Try since he was seven.

"Come on, I'll teach you." She held out a hand.

He saw several things wrong with this plan. The first of which being that he'd most likely get killed in the process… But his pride kept him from voicing that one. "What are were gonna do with the bird?" Guy asked logically.

Eep gave him a look, leaning over to stare at the unconscious animal beneath them. "I don't think he's going anywhere anytime soon." Brows raised slightly, she extended her arm again, wriggling her fingers. Hesitantly, Guy slid his palm onto hers. He didn't want her to think he didn't care about hunting.

I mean, how bad could it be?

He would later regret that thought.

Eep led Guy to a clearing, standing in the middle as she let go of his hand, smiling at him. "Okay! Lesson 1: Hitting." She braced herself. "Hit me."

The young man frowned. "I'm sorry, did you just ask me to hit you?"

"Yeah. Come on, do it."

"No!"

"Why not?" She seemed genuinely confused.

"Because I like you! Why would I want to hurt somebody I like?"

Though his words made her insides feel warm, she forced herself to focus. This was more important than the weird things her body had been doing whenever he was near. "For the lesson," she replied obviously. "Hit me."

"Eep-"

"Ugh." She rolled her eyes and punched him in the arm, hard. Guy yelped.

"What was that for?!"

"Well, you wouldn't start, so I did. Now hit me."

"Eep, I- OW! Quit it!" Another punch. "OUCH! STOP!" A kick. "STOP." He punched her shoulder, forcing the young woman to stumble back as he cradled his hand, whimpering pathetically. "Ow."

"That was great, Guy! Oh, are you okay?"

"Fine," he murmured. "You're like a rock, aren't you?"

She blushed, biting her lip through a large smile. Guy felt his insides get hot. He had said it offhandedly, but adored the fact that she took it as a compliment. And, at the end of the day, he supposed it was. She was all muscle.

"Okay," the redhead grinned. "Tackling."

"What's 'tackling'?"

"An idea!" She grinned, delighted. "It's when you're running and you jump on the animal to pin it down. I thought it sounded good."

"It does," he agreed. "So what are we gonna tackling?"

"Tackle," she corrected. "And I'm gonna tackle you."

"Tackle me? Yeah, okay-" It sounded fine until he thought about it. Then it sounded terrifying. Eep was advancing. "Um, you know what? I changed my mind. No. No tackling."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"Please, no."

"Too late."

She growled, hurling herself at him, and Guy threw himself out of the way. Unfortunately, this only bought him a limited amount of time. Eep continued to chase him, and he knew she was faster… Guy wondered how long before she pummeled him. Unless he pummeled her first.

Ha. Like that was ever gonna happen.

But he figured a change in strategy was worth a shot.

Abruptly, Guy spun around to face her directly, surprising Eep as she attempted to skid to halt, but ended up crashing into him, both parties tumbling to the ground in a massive heap of tangled limbs. But it wasn't over. Because somehow, in between screaming and falling, Guy started having fun. It was like with the tiger cubs he'd seen; he and Eep were play fighting.

And he wanted to win.

They growled and pushed and pulled for what felt like hours, until Guy saw an opening and took it. "HA!" He exclaimed, straddling her waist as he leaned over her, hands pinning her arms above her head. She was strong, and he knew that if she really wanted, she could probably shake him off… but he appreciated her laying there, admitting defeat. "See?" Guy breathed heavily, gasping for air. "I did it."

Eep grinned proudly, just as out of breath as she let herself relax on the grass. Was this how he felt every time he taught her something new? It was rush. "Good job."

"Thanks," he smiled, feeling oddly satisfied. It felt good to fight and sweat. Really good… Despite the fact that he was sure she'd had something to do with the victory. He wasn't stupid. Eep could kick him to Tomorrow if she wanted to. "And thanks for, you know, letting me win."

She froze. "I-I didn't let you win."

He gave her a look.

"Okay," The young woman conceded. "I stopped playing when you pushed me down. But that doesn't mean I let you win. You pinned me."

And he smiled widely. "I did?"

"Yeah," she looked at him, suddenly seeming more girlish. "You're stronger than you look."

Abruptly, Guy was hyperaware of their positioning. Of their own accord, his fingers laced themselves through hers and he leaned forward ever so slightly… Just so he could clearly see the green of her eyes. He was close. So close. Too close.

And all together way too far.

Eep, meanwhile, was feeling like her drummer was going to drum straight out of its place in her chest. Though this seemed to happen a lot in Guy's presence, and had started to worry her, at that moment, she couldn't find it in herself to care. Why was he so close?

Why didn't he come closer?

As if he had heard her, the young man leaned down, feeling like his own drummer was in this throat as he paused, contemplating the feeling for only a second before closing his eyes and nuzzling his sniffer against hers. He felt her sharp intake of breath and moved away with a lazy smile, pulling her up as he slid off of her body. Eep's eyes were wide as she stared at him, confused and excited and scared all at once. She swallowed thickly. "Guy, I think my drummer is gonna come out of me."

He knew the feeling. But the good news was that if she was feeling it too, that probably meant he wasn't going to die. Carefully, the young man took her hand and placed it over his heart, more nervous than anything else.

Her fingers spread out on his skin as Eep looked between her hand and his face at least a half a dozen times. He felt it, too?

"My mom used to tell me stories," he said softly, looking at her with all the trust in the world. "She told me that, in the very beginning, there was only darkness, and that, eventually, a sun was born. Just one. And it was lonely. It spent years walking in the dark, looking for a friend, and it grew bigger and bigger all the time. Until one day, the sun stumbled onto a big rock, and it was so happy to have found something else that it cared for it, keeping it warm and giving it light. The rock was grateful, and thanked the sun, and said that its name was 'Earth'. Soon, things began to grow on Earth, and it was covered with trees and animals, but the sun was growing, too… And one day, it broke into a million other, smaller suns, all running off in different directions. All but one. One sun, the heart, stayed behind, vowing to look after Earth despite the fact that its brothers and sisters had abandoned it. The Earth cried, weeping for the loss of the sun's family and told him to follow, that she'd be okay living there without him. But the sun said no. He said that he couldn't leave, because he loved her, and that meant he'd always be there for her. So he stayed. And every morning, he wakes up the Earth with a sunrise and puts her to bed with a sunset."

"That's beautiful."

"Yeah," he said softly. "My mom was a good storyteller."

"You must miss her."

"I do."

"I'm so sorry, Guy."

"It wasn't your fault," he murmured.

Eep's hand moved from his face to touch his cheek, fingers tracing his cheekbone as her brows knitted, fingers moving to smooth the lines on his forehead. "I wish I could make it better," she confessed.

"You already do. You're my Earth."

Her drummer skipped a beat and the young woman moved forward, fingers moving down to brush across his lips. If The End caught up to them, even in Tomorrow, she'd want to remember him just like this; truthful and pure and bare before her, eyes caring. Holding onto his shoulders, the young woman nuzzled her face against his, moving away with a soft smile. "You showed me that I can live in the light," Eep said quietly. "You're my sun."

They sat in the clearing until the light began to fade, talking about everything and nothing, and occasionally hiding from things that wanted to kill them. And as Grug called them back to camp, they laced their fingers together, walking close and smiling.

Her hand grounded him.

And his made her soar.