"Darien"

Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to update, but I had a small case of writer's block. Soulful Heart Fox belongs to NebulaBelt.

"Chapter 4: A Fragile Truce"

Regal's expression was grim as she passed Faith over to Pace and herded her husband to the far end of the room. The tiger went willingly enough; he accepted the fact that he had been out of line, and he wanted to get as far away from Darien as possible. Besides, he knew he had some explaining to do. When they were far enough away from the others, Regal turned to him and spoke. "Just what possessed you to go off on him like that?"

Stellar, for once, gave no ground. He folded his arms and put on a stubborn expression. "You heard the way he spoke to me. I don't have to take that."

"No, but unless I'm mistaken, you did start it." she retorted, placing her paws on her hips. "So, what brought it on?"

He sighed, hunching his shoulders a little. "Well...I knew him."

Regal had heard them address each other by their former names, so she wasn't at all surprised. "Did something happen between you two to make you dislike each other?"

Stellar avoided her eyes as he answered her. "A lot of things contributed to it...But I'm not sure how to put it."

"Give it a try." she urged.

Stellar looked up and took her elbow in a gentle grip, leading her outside to the pink-and-white picnic tables. They sat down, and he tapped his fingers on the pink painted tabletop before he spoke again. "It's really nothing big, nothing terrible, but..."

Regal frowned at her husband's paw, beginning to grow annoyed. "Stellar..." she said warningly.

He stopped his tapping and looked up, then tucked his paws under his armpits. "Well, see...Tigers - that is, normal tigers - aren't really that social. I prefer company to solitude, normally, but I wasn't always like that. Lions are more social, at least to a point..." he looked up, and she nodded. She knew all that. He continued. "To begin with, we were two territorial males who were kept too close to each other. While we didn't own any 'territory' to speak of, we still saw each other as encroachers. I avoided confrontations...and he seemed to invite them. He was horrible, always snarling and baring his teeth, making cheap shots when the trainers weren't looking..."

"You two...fought each other, then?" she asked hesitantly.

He sighed again. "More like he mopped up the floor with me. He was older and bigger, and it was only when I was barely an adult that I managed to escape the circus and join the Care Bear Family...It only came to blows once or twice, but those times were enough. I...I was terrified of him, Regal..."

Regal nodded, and patted his arm. "Okay...I can see why you wouldn't be happy to see him..." she didn't acknowledge her husband's snort, "But you're not normal animals anymore. You're a Care Bear Cousin, and like it or not so is he. You're both sentient, intelligent beings - "

"If he's intelligent, I'm a mongoose." grumbled Stellar. Regal continued as if he hadn't interrupted.

"And your 'greeting' was really uncalled for."

He looked at her as if she had in some way betrayed him. "How was it uncalled for, after the things he did to me?"

"Well," she said, "for one thing, he didn't do anything to you this time, at least until you hissed in his face. For another, how would you react if someone did that to you?"

"Regal, he's not right! When I knew him in the circus, he was practically insane!" he hissed, not wanting to raise his voice and attract attention. "He scared Faith - yes, I know I had a hand in that - "

"He apologized." Regal pointed out.

"Not to me, he didn't!" Stellar shot back.

Regal sighed and ran a paw down her face. "Stel, I'm not making excuses for him. His behavior was pretty bad, but you have to remember he was never taught what was right. And you were."

"Well, yes..." he reluctantly admitted.

"And the fact that he did apologize to Faith is a good sign. I'm not saying you have to give him a hug and a pat on the back, but I'm asking you to at least give him a chance to prove himself." she said.

The tiger nodded in agreement, though every fiber of his being screamed out against it. 'I saw the look he gave Hope...If he so much as smiles at her in a way I don't like, I'll...'

He cut off his train of thought, not wanting to get himself in a worse mood than he was already in. It was out of his hands, and he would have to just stand back and see what would unfold. Of course, that didn't mean he couldn't watch his daughter like a hawk. 'If that lion doesn't behave himself, the gloves come off...'

Darien, meanwhile, was being introduced to some other members of the Care Bear Family. The little tiff with Lysander - or Stellar Heart, as he now called himself...of all the stupid names! - had amused the lion, and he decided that staying for a little while just might be fun after all. The warm bed and fresh hot breakfast certainly beat anything he could have found on the streets. He grudgingly shook hands with Tender Heart and everyone else he was introduced to, though that particular custom put him ill at ease. All the while, his eyes kept straying to the pretty striped female he had seen earlier. What was her name? He tried to remember, then realized that he had never heard her name spoken. He would have to ask her later.

"And this is Soulful Heart Fox. Soulful Heart, this is Darien." said Noble Heart, by way of introduction.

Darien saw at once that the fox didn't much care for him, and this prompted him to smirk and stick out his paw for a handshake; the action contrasted with all the handshakes he had performed up until then, because he had always been the one to reluctantly accept them, rather than willingly offer one. "Always glad to meet a fellow sourpuss." said Darien.

The fox looked at Darien's paw as if it were some slimy dead thing, and declined to shake hands with him by clasping his own paws behind his back. "No you're not. You're glad of the opportunity to ridicule me, though what I did to deserve it is beyond my ability to comprehend."

Darien's eyes dilated, and he abruptly burst out laughing. The top of this creature's head barely reached his chest, and yet he had the gall to give this lion cheek! Darien clapped him on the shoulder - hard enough to sting, though this wasn't intentional - and said, "Hey, you're all right!"

"Ahem," Noble Heart steered Darien in another direction, leading him away from the hapless fox, who was rubbing his shoulder and glaring balefully after the lion.

Connie walked over to Soulful, and rested her elbow on his other shoulder. "Charming fella, huh?" she drawled.

Soulful looked at her elbow, then looked up at her. "Connie, do I look like an elbow rest to you?" he demanded.

Connie saw that he wasn't exactly in the mood to joke around, and removed her elbow. "Sorry." she said, and when he grunted back she continued, "How's your other arm? I saw him clock you one."

"Oh, fine and dandy." he grumbled, heading for the door. "Excuse me."

Noble Heart brought Darien over to Brave Heart and introduced them, and Darien narrowed his eyes a little. Brave Heart looked vaguely worried when Darien fixed him with a hard stare, and after a rather tense moment Brave Heart asked, "Um...something wrong?"

"Nooo..." Darien said uncertainly, cocking his head to one side. "But I think I've seen you before."

Brave Heart smiled at that, and said, "Well, that's because you have. Only you were a lot bigger then."

Darien scratched his chin and nodded. "Yeah...you were that li'l dude who came into the tent and took pictures of me. Didn't know what you were doin' at the time, though. All I knew was I didn't like the flash."

"That's why you attacked the bars, huh?" asked Brave Heart, trying to make conversation.

"No." Darien replied, "I attacked the bars cuz I felt like crap and I wanted to be left alone."

"Eh..." Brave Heart blinked, mildly taken aback, but recovered quickly. "So...um...what have you been doing with yourself since then?"

"Nothin'." said Darien.

"I mean, how'd you get to be like us?" Brave Heart asked, "Where were you living before Bedtime Bear found you? How come we didn't find you sooner?"

Darien felt his patience beginning to dwindle. He folded his arms and looked down at the floor. His past wasn't something he wished to discuss on a first meeting, or any other meeting for that matter. "I don't know, none of your business, and maybe you got careless."

Brave Heart's jaw dropped, and it was a wonder his eyes didn't pop out of his skull. "B...Wh...Is that so?"

Noble Heart quickly got between them, casting a stern look on Darien and whispering to Brave Heart, "I know he seems to be lacking in social graces, but he hasn't learned any better. Don't take offence so soon, or we won't get anywhere with him. As a leader, you'll have to try extra hard to keep your temper, even if he loses his."

Brave Heart grumbled a bit, but nodded. "Seems I crossed a line I didn't know about, Darien. Sorry." he said stiffly.

Darien merely shrugged and turned away, stopping when Noble Heart put a paw on his shoulder. He stiffened in annoyance; he didn't like having his personal space invaded, and this had happened so many times during the past hour that he had lost count. Noble Heart picked up on his discomfort, and removed his paw before speaking.

"Have you given any thought to joining our Family, Darien?" he asked, and Darien was mildly intrigued that the 'f' in 'family' seemed to be capitalized, even in speech. The lion supposed this gave the word some sort of importance, though the importance of family eluded him. He saw no reason why any family, let alone this one, should start with a capital letter. He couldn't read very well, but he at least knew the alphabet, and he knew the difference between upper-case and lower-case letters. This was only a passing observation, and Noble Heart wasn't even aware of it.

"I dunno..." Darien began, then trailed off when he saw the pretty female liger he'd had his eye on approaching him. "But I'm thinkin' about it." he continued, unconsciously running a paw through his mane, then wincing in shame when his fingers snagged in a rat's nest of tangles. 'Sure, I had to pick today to be a lazy slug...' he berated himself.

Hope's ears were pinned, a sure sign of nervousness, and she slowly raised her head as if it she found it difficult to do so. "Hello, Darien. I'm Hopeful Heart Liger, but most people call me Hope. How do you like it here so far?"

"Ummmm..." Darien critically eyed his surroundings, and answered her quite honestly. "Kinda looks like a rainbow threw up, but it's beats the streets."

Hope snickered, and shrugged. "Well, I happen to like it, but I know pastels aren't everybody's thing."

"Nuh-uh." he said emphatically. "Seems a little too...I dunno...It's almost creepy. And the way everyone's like 'hi, nice to meetcha, gimme a hug'...brrrr..." he shuddered.

The liger's smile faltered, and she did her best not to show that she was insulted. "I'm sure it'll take some getting used to, should you decide to stay..."

Darien smirked down at her. "Well, not everything about this place gives me the creeps..."

"Oh?" she looked unsure.

"Yeah." he said, "As long as I get to see more of your pretty face, I wouldn't mind stayin'."

Hope blushed and looked away, and Stellar laid back his ears and clenched his teeth behind rigid lips. 'Quite a smoothie...' thought the tiger, looking absolutely disgusted, 'He's definitely a smoothie...Who would have thought? I think I'm about to be sick...'

"You do want to join our Family?" asked Noble Heart.

Darien peeled his eyes away from Hope long enough to take in her father's glare, and gave a sadistic smile. "Yeah. I'll stay."

'Of course...' thought Stellar, rolling his eyes heavenward.

"Then it's time to give you your tummy symbol." announced the horse.

"My what?" Darien covered his stomach; he pretty much knew what they meant, since he was the only one there with a totally white belly, but he had no desire to wear a pretty pastel heart or anything too stupid-looking. He liked his looks just fine the way they were.

Tender Heart approached him. "It's part of who we are. Our tummy symbols usually represent an aspect of our personalities..."

"I remember now. That Bedtime guy explained last night. But I don't want one." said Darien.

Tender Heart wasn't sure how to proceed, but Hope spoke up.

"Our tummy symbols are special, and they're important. We can make things with them, if we have the energy for it. And you'll be able to defend yourself a lot better with one than without one." she said, sensing that this aspect of it might interest him.

"Really...How?" he asked.

"Well...Let's say someone's coming towards you, wanting to attack you. If you send a Cousin Call at them - " she demonstrated by sending a Call at the wall, leaving it undamaged, " - it won't hurt them, but it'll distract them long enough for you to get away. Or it might even make them change their minds about attacking. We also use them as weapons against evil, but only as a last resort. We try to appeal to the good in people."

"You think people are good?" he asked her, in a way that wasn't quite a challenge.

"Many people are. There's good and evil in everyone, it's just a question of degree." she replied. "Will you let Tender Heart give you your symbol?"

Now she was challenging him, and if he backed down from that challenge he would lose face. He narrowed his eyes a little, but nodded. 'Smart little thing...'

Tender Heart stepped forward again, and sent a beam of rainbow-colored light at Darien. The lion stood stock still, forcing himself to keep a straight face as a tickling sensation graced his belly, and in an instant it was over. He looked down, and instead of seeing a pastel shape like he'd expected, he saw something quite different. On his tummy was a large black heart. Within the heart was a smaller red star, and inside the star was a little white heart. "Well, that isn't too bad..." he said, sounding like he was admitting something to himself.

"What a symbol..." Stellar said flatly, his voice low so that only Regal heard it.

Regal herself was rather intrigued. 'Black heart, red star, white heart. I wonder what it means. It conforms to us, and yet it doesn't. No one else here has black as the main color of their symbol. A tiny white heart...white is usually used to represent the power of good...Black could either mean evil or nothingness, I suppose. Red? I don't know. Neutrality, maybe? Hm. Whatever it all means, I can see one thing at least. This guy is in conflict with himself. I've already seen bad behavior from him. And he seems to be reserving judgment about a lot of things; neutrality. It also seems like he wants to do the right thing; he apologized for scaring Faith...Good. Bah...I'm reading too much into this. Heck, maybe the colors are only meant to match his fur, for all I know!' Regal Heart chuckled to herself, and shook her head.

"What's so funny?" demanded Stellar.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking too much, I guess." she said.

"Hm..." he sighed, putting his arm around her.

"All right, gang!" called Noble Heart, "We have a party to set up for."

Pace winced, but didn't comment. 'Noble Heart, you ended your sentence in a preposition...Okay, stop that, Pace. You're being overly-critical again.'

Hope licked her lips and drew in a breath to ask Darien a question, when she felt her father's paw on her shoulder. "Daddy?"

"I just want to talk to you, Hopie." he said, leading her away from Darien, who mouthed the tiger's words then stuck out his tongue.

Hope went to the other end of the room with her father, looking puzzled. "What's up?"

"Listen, Hope...You know you're my daughter and I love you, right?" Stellar asked earnestly.

"Yeeees...?" she drew out the word, looking even more confused than before.

"Then you'll understand that I'm only saying this because I care about you...I want you to avoid him." he said.

"But why?"

'Why? Why...gotta think up a good reason, and quick...' he thought. "Because...he's really not the nicest sort of guy, and I don't trust him."

"So I noticed." she said. "I don't trust him either, not completely. That would be stupid. I just met him. But if he isn't given a chance to show that he can be good, he'll only prove you right."

"He'll prove me right either way." he said desperately, putting his paws on her shoulders and leaning in close. "Hope, I want you to stay away from him! He was cruel enough in the circus as a normal animal, but back then he didn't know any better. He's spent years on the streets, who knows what he's seen?"

"Exactly!" she said, but he gently put a paw to her mouth.

"Hope...I know what you're trying to say, but please try to understand what I'm saying. A hard life can either make a person stronger, or it can make a person mean. Until we're sure what his life has turned him into, I think you should keep your distance."

Hope waited until he took his paw from her mouth, and she caught it between her own paws. "Daddy...I do understand. But what if you're wrong? What if keeping our distance is the wrong choice? If we don't give him a chance, he'll feel like he isn't accepted...and he'll just be even more abrasive than he is now. I admit it, he does have a bad attitude. But maybe that's why he's here, to be helped, to be given a chance to better himself."

Stellar felt his resolve drain out of him, and he realized that she had a very good point. He sighed, and hugged her. "All right. We'll give him a chance. But do me a favor."

"Yes?" she asked.

"Until you're sure about his character...no, until I'm sure...don't go anywhere alone with him. We don't know him, and I don't trust him. He'll have his chance, but I want you to be safe, do you understand me?"

She nodded. "Yes, I do. But I think you're worrying over nothing."

"Maybe." he said. "Maybe not. Until we know - "

"I know." she said, backing away and heading back to the others.

Stellar watched her go, heaving a deep sigh. 'I hope you do, Hopie...'

To Be Continued...