A debilitating childhood injury makes Atlatl unable to be a hunter and a disappointment to his father, who is the leader of their Stone Age clan. When a saber-toothed cub is orphaned, Atlatl decides to protect it, bringing it back to his clan. The move generates dissent from members of his clan, and when a flash flood attacks their settlement, it is blamed Atlatl. On his own, Atlatl must face down a variety of deadly predators and makes a trek to see the Turtle god to discover if it really was his fault that his clan was destroyed.