Late Winter, Early 2021

Shoving his hands into his pockets, Gruffi kept his eyes downcast. He rarely left the Glen and he was perfectly fine with that! When their cousins had originally come back, he had spent a lot of time visiting other warrens, helping reestablish homes and yes, visiting Dunwyn to see Calla and Cavin and their children. However, that was centuries ago. The warrens were established, the gummi dimension had been thriving for centuries and he rarely saw a reason to leave the Glen. Occasionally, he would stop by Dunwyn to see one of Cavin and Calla's descendants but it was a rarity. Easier and more pleasant for him to stay at the Glen.

Except for the occasional visit to his grown cubs.

Cubbi was easy, as he was in Gummadoon and his children were in Gummadoon. That was a city where Gruffi's type of gummies dwelled. For the most part, that city still was focused on the old ways. Cubbi was always easy to find, and usually in the company of that blue furred gummi Toni that had become like a brother to the kid. Gruffi had learned to tolerate the gummi's light hearted teasing. While Gruffi put up a rough face, he found he did like the kid, as he liked most of the boys that Cubbi had grown up training with. Good gummi hearts, all of them!

And then, Cubbi's children always managed to bring a smile to his face. Terri was just like her father and she managed to drive Gruffi just as crazy though, just like her father, her intentions were always good. Kenni, Richi, Teddi, those three boys carried so much of Cubbi's spirit in them and Kelli…oh, he connected so much with her! He loved teaching his craft of repair, of woodwork to one of his grandcubs! Then, there was little Lili and Gum's sake, it was impossible to be mad at her.

Plus, Gruffi found he truly connected with the knights ,with the counselors, with all he encountered in that huge city. Every visit to Gummadoon always ended well, with dinners and toasts exchanged among like-minded folk! His heart swelled with pride thinking of it!

Then, there was Tummi. Oh, the kid had vanished for a while, not long after Cubbi went to train, on some ocean-bound foolhardiness. Gruffi had always figured the cub's love of the sea would fade with time but it only got stronger. He supposed he should have seen it comin but it was still a little heart breaking to see Tummi off, especially since Cubbi had just recently gone to Gummadoon. Kid had only been training there for a year when Tummi took off!

Well, to the boy's credit, he had grown so much in his time away and he DID come back. Took him freakin' five years but he did come back. What a changed bear he was though! Slimmer, much slimmer and with a sea-green gummi he introduced as his wife! And a cub of about three he introduced as his son and his wife carried a cub barely a month old! Gum's sake, what had they missed?!

Oh, Grammi had chewed him a new one for leaving them out of the loop for so long but that quickly was laid to rest when Tummi announced his intent to stay. He and his family settled into the Glen, Tummi helping with the gardening and his wife proving to be quite the proficient cook! Gruffi, despite holding some resentment over Tummi leaving for so long, was proud to see it had matured him, made him see the light and return where he belonged. Plus, the cubs he fathered wrapped him around their fingers pretty quick, though Gruffi would deny that if asked.

Then, there was his little girl…

Sunni.

He missed her, a lot. He had to admit, while he had accepted her choice of a mate and in some ways, of her lifestyle, it still hurt that she had left the Glen behind. She had always been a flighty one and when she had announced her intention to train to be a Barbic, he had expected her to come home, her head down, after a few months. Half a year max.

She hadn't.

Grammi had pushed him to go see her at about month eight. He had protested it, not wanting to cave. After all, it was …well, he considered it an outright betrayal of her heritage but ultimately his love for her won out and he had visited.

She'd changed, grown. Gotten stronger, more confident, but she looked less and less like a girl from the Glen each time he saw her. When the day came that they had been invited to her test, she looked…well, Barbic.

It hurt.

While he never told anyone, he had secretly hoped she would fail her tests, that she would realize what she was surrendering and return home. In his deepest of hearts, he knew it to be a petty and selfish wish and he was deeply ashamed that it came up but it had. Sunni had prevailed though, been claimed as Barbic in a rather flashy ceremony.
And she had walked up to Gruffi and Grammi with her old clothes, neatly folded and handed them over, thanking them for what they had done for her, thanking them for raising her and then turned and embraced Ursa who had given her a new tunic, made of hide.

Gruffi didn't hate Ursa, though sometimes he did feel resentment towards her. He never had HATED any of the Barbics! Didn't like their lifestyle, disapproved of a lot of what they did but as he learned more about them, he could see WHY they did the things they did.

Likewise, he didn't hate Buddi. Not at all! The kid had a good heart and he had done nothing but love and protect Sunni ever since they met. Gruffi found he was a pretty easy bear to talk to and he proved to be an excellent father to their three cubs.

All the same, he couldn't help but feel, every so often, that they stole his daughter away.

Again, logically, he knew Sunni was not destined to stay in the Glen. He'd seen the signs of it very early on. But, when the Ancients returned, he had hoped maybe her love of royalty would keep her close, maybe in Ursalia or Gummadoon or even New Gumbrea. Close to gummies and lifestyles he knew and understood.

But no, her heart belonged elsewhere.

He had tried to convince her otherwise. He had tried everything short of forbidding her to see Buddi (he had considered it but one look at her face when he started to bring it up had shut that down) but he finally had to accept that her life was not what he had imagined for her. Accepted it, yes, he had but that didn't mean he did not mourn what might have been.

Perhaps, that was why he visited Sunni the least, despite missing her. He hated the feelings of resentment that always surfaced, even with as mild and fleeting as they had become over the years. She was happy and that was the most important thing!

"Gruffi!"

Drawn out of his thoughts, he let a smile grace his face as the yellow furred young lady who had been occupying his thoughts quickly dropped from the tree above, her long braided hair falling into her face as she landed, rushed him and nearly crushed him in a hug, "Gruffi! I missed you!"

A low chuckle greeted her and he managed a "Missed you too, sweetie," as he gathered his breath back. By Gum she had a strong grip! Each time he saw her, it seemed like she got stronger. Maybe it was him getting older…

"Wasn't expecting you to show up, Gruffi." Sunni opened as she released Gruffi and led him to one of the few lifts the woods had for those not adept in the trees, usually meant for the few visitors they did receive. Same reason they had swinging bridges between the huts. They certainly weren't for the locals!

"Well, I figured I'd drop in, see how ya were doing and…" he paused, rubbed his neck some. Gum, this was awkward. Sunni, to her credit, noticed right away and he saw her face wrinkle some as she thought then her eyes went huge.

"You came to see Ursa?!"

Gum, was he THAT easy to read? Even considering he'd raised this girl, he was surprised she caught on so quick. "Well, I…guess you could say I did."

Oh, Sunni grinned as she pulled the lift's controls to lift them up. It was a simple weight-counterweight system. Actually, Gruffi had helped to put them in. But he seemed more interested in the disappearing forest floor now.

"I take it you all heard about the baby?" Sunni inquired, simply.

Gruffi gave a nod, "Word spreads fast, even if ya don't want it to." That was true enough. It had come from Gummadoon actually. (Sunni probably told Cubbi as they still conversed quite often) and Cubbi had been quick to tell Grammi and well, once Grammi knew, it was only a matter of time before the whole Glen knew.

He had considered just sending a simple message of congratulations and Gum knows it would have been easier but his conscience would not let him. As much as he and the Barbic leader had always been at one another's throats, they did have a comradery. He did still consider her a friend, though not a deep friend. He could not ignore the many times she had come to his and his clan's aid. He would not ignore a huge milestone for her nor insult it by sending an impersonal note. Plus, the coming cub had nothing to do with how he and Ursa felt for one another. Not fair to the poor kid either. Plus, he owed it to Ursa as her friend.

Wait…he'd mentioned that already…

Sunni smiled, "Well, Ursa'll be surprised but she's in her hut." He was grateful for the interruption of his thoughts but it brought his current dilemma back to the front of his mind. He swore that the ride up used to take much longer.

Sunni pointed to the nearest hut as they stepped off the lift, across a small bridge. Gruffi did not budge at first, and it wasn't because of a fear of heights. That was Zummi's territory. What was he gonna say? Gum, this was a bad idea…

Sunni pushed him gently ahead and grinned, "When you guys are done, I'll be out here. I have LOTS to catch you up on."

"…right." He turned to try and catch her in conversation but she had vanished into the trees above. Gum, how did she get so fast? He couldn't even begin to see where she'd gone! There was a faint rustle of leaves but nothing beyond that. She blended into the canopy like she wore some kind of invisible spell.

With any distraction now gone, he took a hefty breath and slowly walked across the swaying bridge. He had helped install some of these, years and years ago. They still held up well and it seemed like the Barbics did perform maintenance of them, which was encouraging. He sometimes wondered if they bothered, considering most of them didn't use them, just swung back and forth like a bunch of monkeys.

The door was open actually as he approached but he still knocked on the doorway a bit. Last thing he wanted was a jumpy Ursa flinging a spear or somethin' at him…
He spied her before she turned around though he had to admit, he was taken aback. Sure, he knew she was pregnant and a ways along, but to actually see her, with the rounded belly, the wrapped ankles and the loose clothing…well, it was such a shock to what he usually thought of when she came to mind.

She turned quick as ever though and her eyes went wide a moment. In fact, Gruffi was sure they must have looked like facial reflections—huge eyes and dropped jaws before he cleared his throat and asked, "Mind if I come in?"

The Barbic leader was quiet a moment more then cleared her throat and gestured him in. "Sure." She stepped aside, letting the Glen approach where the fire roared. The light flurry of snow still fell outside and decorated the forest with light coatings of frost. It certainly made the warm crackling flame inviting, even for a pair of awkward gummies.
"So…uh…" Gruffi cleared his throat again, twice, before saying, "Just thought I'd drop in, see Sunni, and…uh…we heard about…the baby." Again, Gruffi paused, scratched at the back of his neck, looking more at his feet than her, "Congratulations."

Ursa, despite her initial shock at his arrival, allowed a smirk, "You congratulating the ground or me?"

Called out, the Glen Gummi forced himself to look up, to look AT her. "You, of course. Hope the kid is…" he had a lot of things he could say here: not a handful (but Barbics valued spunk) smart (wait, that sounded so bland) soon (but he didn't want to encourage any premature labor)…

He finally settled on "Healthy."

Ursa smirked, raised a brow. Oh, swell, she was totally enjoying watching him be—

"Thanks." She replied simply.

With that said, the two of them stood silently, awkwardly for a long moment. Gruffi finally cleared his throat, saying, "Well, I..uh…Sunni said she had some things to catch up with me…"

He turned, intent on walking out when Ursa called him back, "Gruffi, can we talk like two adults please and not like two nervous little cubs?"

Snorting, he turned about. "Who's a nervous cub? Speak for yourself."

"Look." She responded, sitting down by the fire. "I'm not going to get into it with you. I appreciate you coming out this way. I know you don't like to."

"It ain't no Glen—"

"It's because of Sunni." Ursa said simply, not looking at him, but keeping her sights on the fire. "Can't blame you either. If our situations were reversed, I wouldn't have taken it as well as you are."

She's one to talk, the Glen leader scoffed. It isn't reversed.

"I'm not going to tell you to get over it." She replied. "But I figured since you were here, I might as well bring this up." She turned, finally, met Gruffi's eyes. "I didn't turn Sunni into something she wasn't. I just honed what she already had. You can't become as good a warrior as she is by not having anything to start with."

Gruffi crossed his arms, huffed but Ursa's next statement dropped his defensive nature.

"I think most of it came from you."

Startled, Gruffi coughed, tried to gather his composure. Ursa, to her credit, didn't comment on it but waited, patiently before saying, "I don't say things to humor people Gruffi. Any time Sunni was forced into a hard situation, anytime she felt overwhelmed, it was 'Gruffi didn't raise me to give up.'"

Rightly startled, Gruffi didn't speak when Ursa stood and approached him, "You planted a fire in her. We can't control what direction the fire burns, just that it has a strong enough spark to withstand what is thrown at it."

"Didn't strike me as the poetic type," Gruffi finally remarked.

Ursa shrugged, "True, isn't it?"

Gruffi huffed, again, folded his arms and looked at his puffed chest like it offended him. He never thought Sunni commented on him after she left. Figured that she left all that behind in the Glen after she left. Hearing it…helped.

"I think we both forget we have the same origins." Ursa remarked. "Glen, Royal, Barbic…we all used to be one clan. We all had different things we set out to do. I don't agree with some of yours, you don't agree with some of mine. Fine. Doesn't mean I don't still respect what you do, Gruffi."

Caught more than a little off guard, Gruffi frowned but he couldn't not reply. "Guess that makes both of us."

Silence a little while longer then, "Sunni's a strong bearess. She's dependable, compassionate, quick on her feet. Learns quick." Ursa chuckled, "She's always learning."

Gruffi eyed the Barbic leader a moment.

"She is still always learning Gruffi. Said that is one thing she'll always remember—you can always learn." Ursa stretched, arched her back, massaged the lower portion, "You're fed that. That's nurtured." She eyed Gruffi, deciding not to push it any farther, "Maybe I guided her fire into what she decided to be. But you fed the spark."

Gruffi pondered this a long moment. While he still wished that Sunni could have remained in the Glen, the Barbic leader had a lot of good points. Sunni was a wonderful healer, and her dealings on the battlefield no doubt had a lot to do with that. He never could have taught her that. Was it so wrong that she decided to become…well, in her own way, a fix-it, like him.

Only she fixed bodies, gummies, people, not things.

Yeah, maybe that wasn't so bad.

Eyeing the Barbic leader, he finally smiled at her, a genuine smile, "Stoke your new one's fire, Ursa."