"Darien"

Author's Note: Jeez, what a time to get about a hundred ideas at once! It never happens when you're looking for it, does it? Thank you for sticking with me this long, and for your kind reviews! This chapter is extremely short, but you can expect the next one soon!

"Chapter 10: A State of Disgrace"

Noble Heart was completely silent as he led Darien away from the target range, and everyone they passed (the Cousins especially) gave them a wide berth. Having been raised by Noble Heart since infancy, the Care Bear Cousins knew the expression on his face well enough to steer clear. They could tell from a distance that the horse was very angry, and more than a few of them wondered just what Darien had done to provoke him.

Not long before, Brave Heart had reported to Noble Heart that Darien was currently unfit for duty...and why. With his speech slurred by the Novocain that Take Care had given him, it took Brave Heart several minutes to do so, and Noble Heart had promised that he would consider Brave Heart's request for leniency. And he would. But first, he wanted to get Darien's side of the story and find out just how much leniency he deserved. Most transgressions came from cubs, so this hadn't even been an issue for years. Up until this time, punishments were few and far between, and were generally tailored to fit the crime. 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth' certainly couldn't apply here, though! As angry as he was, Noble Heart couldn't have brought himself to hit Darien; that simply wasn't the way he was.

Something would have to be done, though. He couldn't allow his 'children' to be harmed, especially not by one of their own. Even if he didn't feel like a father to Brave Heart--to all of them--hitting one of the Leaders was serious business. It was just as well that they had some distance to walk before they would reach the Hall of Hearts. Noble Heart needed some time to breathe deeply and gather his thoughts.

Behind him, Darien plodded along slowly and reluctantly, hanging his head and crossing his arms in a mingled expression of shame and defiance. He resembled a miscreant teenager more than anything else, and in truth, that's exactly what he felt like. It was a new feeling, one that he didn't care for. He was finding that being in a family, especially one as diverse as this one, wasn't exactly a ticket to 'Easy Street'. While he did have a bed to sleep in and food to eat, he had a whole new set of rules to follow. So far, he hadn't been following any of them.

Well, he hadn't expected to find a girl he cared for, had he? Or so many obstacles to overcome, like dangerous Tummy Symbols, presumptuous Leaders, and...brrr!...doctors. This was more than he had bargained for, and now that he had upset Hope he didn't even have her.

'I didn't exactly have her in the first place,' was Darien's morose thought, 'And now I never will. She'll never talk to me again. Idiot! Stupid!'

They hadn't reached their destination when Darien halted, clasping his paws behind his back. "Hey, uh, listen...um..." he almost looked away when Noble Heart turned to meet his gaze; the horse really was livid, though he did a good job of concealing it. Seeing Noble Heart raise his eyebrows briefly in a signal that he should 'go on', Darien continued, "I think I better go back down to Earth. I don't fit in here, I ain't happy, and no one's happy havin' me here, so..."

Noble Heart shook his head uncompromisingly. "Darien, you're not going anywhere until I've had a chance to talk with you in private."

"Look, you can't keep me here against--" he began, but Noble Heart had already turned and begun to walk forward once more. "Hey!"

But Noble Heart didn't answer him. Darien quickly lost his hangdog posture, and fell into step beside Noble Heart. If the horse wasn't going to answer him, he was at least going to have him in his line of sight...Ignore him, would he?

By and by they arrived at the Hall of Hearts, and without speaking (though he did wave when someone greeted him) Noble Heart led Darien into one of the private rooms near the back of the building.

'Well, here we go,' Darien thought to himself, sighing, though he wasn't sure if it was a sigh of dismay or one of relief, 'He's gonna chew me out and send me on my way. Best thing all around, really. Hope's a nice girl...just why she liked me, I dunno. She deserves better...an' I deserve to get the boot. My own fault, couldn't control my temper, and now I'm payin' for it.'

Noble Heart closed the door behind them and folded his arms, moving to stand in front of the lion, whose tail was beginning to wave slowly back and forth. "Now...before I decide what to do about this, I want you to tell me why."

Darien broke the stare first, ducking his head and looking down at his toes. Damn it, he wasn't used to being ashamed! "I dunno..."

"You don't know?"

"I mean, I don't know where to begin." he clarified.

Noble Heart pulled up a chair, and gestured for Darien to do the same. "I've got plenty of time...and, incidentally, so do you. If we're going to be here a while, we might as well get comfortable."

Darien grabbed a chair and turned it wrong-ways before sitting down, straddling the seat and resting his forearms on the wooden heart-shaped back. Noble Heart made no comment on this, though this manner of sitting struck him as being rather impolite. "Well...if you want the short version, I did it because he grabbed my arm. I wanted to leave, and he wasn't lettin' me."

"Yes, I know that much." Noble Heart nodded, "I've already spoken with Brave Heart. I want to know why you wanted to leave, what put you in that state of mind. What made you angry?"

The lion blew out his cheeks, and ran a paw through his mane. "I dunno...I guess I...Look, this ain't easy for me, okay? You know how long it's been since I talked to someone? I had one friend down on Earth, and he's dead."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Noble Heart said levelly, and though his tone was chilly he did mean it.

"Sure." Darien shrugged. "That's how it goes. I tell ya somethin' bad happened, you say 'sorry'. Just like reading a script, ain't it? That's the way it's supposed to go, so am I doin' this 'talking thing' good enough, or not?"

A blink. "I would appreciate it if you wouldn't be so flippant about this. I am truly sorry that your friend's passed on, but that doesn't excuse you for your actions today."

Darien glared at Noble Heart, and shot back, "He didn't 'pass on', he's dead! 'Pass on'...hmph...please!" he got up and angrily stalked from one side of the room to the other, making several noises of frustration and even baring his teeth once or twice as Noble Heart watched in silence. Finally, he stood with his paw gripping the back of his chair and went on. "The first human I trust, and what happens to him? He goes an' gets himself killed! And now you guys tell me I'm gonna be helpin' humans, when it's humans that had me on the run for longer'n I can remember?"

Now Noble Heart was beginning to understand at least part of the reason why Darien was so angry, but that still didn't explain everything. "At the moment, you're nowhere near ready for that. And I am sorry that you've had such hardships in your life. What I don't understand is why you hit Brave Heart today."

"I told you why."

"No," Noble Heart said patiently, "You told me what prompted it, but you were feeling aggressive to begin with. I know about what happened with your Tummy Symbol, how you weren't prepared and were thrown back. From what I was told, you had a very soft landing."

"I couldn't get up!" Darien flung his hands up, then brought them down at his sides, curled into fists that shook. "Don't you get it? I was stuck there, anyone coulda done whatever they wanted to me, and I couldn't get up!"

Eyes widening slightly, Noble Heart stood up but kept his distance. "Darien, no one is going to 'do' anything to you!"

Darien only shook his head and looked away, and Noble Heart closed his eyes briefly and sighed.

"Look, Darien, you're not the first distrustful person to join our Family, and I'm sure you won't be the last. But you are the first one to use violence. Not only will it not be tolerated, but it's not necessary. If you have a problem with something, the thing we try to do is talk it out."

"But I didn't wanna talk, and he tried to force me! What did he expect me to do, hold hands and sing 'Kumbaya'?" Darien half-turned away, but looked over at Noble Heart when the horse gave an equine snort.

"No, of course not. He was just trying to help you, that's all. That's all we want to do, but not at the risk of being pummelled. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

The lion seemed to be relaxing a little; at least he was talking instead of clamming up. He scraped his lower lip with his teeth, and scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, I think I gotcha. Would you believe it was a reflex?"

"Was it?" Noble Heart raised an eyebrow. Darien gave a single, shameful nod, and the horse nodded back. "Then I believe you. And Brave Heart already forgives you; he's worried about you. The next time you don't feel like talking, here's what I want you to do. I want you to say, 'I don't want to talk right now', and I promise you, we'll heed the warning next time. That doesn't mean you can use this whenever the mood takes you, but I don't want you to feel like you're cornered either."

"Hm." Darien nodded and looked like he was turning the thought over in his mind...and, by the way his face fell a little, he had also been considering using that excuse as a cop-out. Little chance of that now. "I ain't evicted, then?"

Noble Heart shook his head. "Not this time, no."

A shrug. "So I'm off the hook, then?"

"Eh, not quite..." Noble Heart said dryly. Why didn't Darien like the way he said that? He was about to find out. "I said you could stay, I didn't say you would go unpunished."

'Yeah, right...Raise a hand to me, and you're chili sauce.' thought Darien, misunderstanding him completely.

"Tummy Symbol Training, and indeed, all formal training can wait for now. Until further notice, you can consider yourself on probation. During that time, you will live with us and abide by the rules. We will teach you how to do routine maintenance on the Cloudclipper, and you will also be called upon to help out in the Hall of Hearts kitchen."

"I can't cook worth a damn."

"You'll learn." Noble Heart informed him pleasantly.

Stay tuned!