Chapter 7
"Arrow, come with me," called Dagger to his niece. He was going hunting for their evening meal. The game neednt be too large for tomorrow they would be in Ursalia.
Arrow acknowledged her uncle and hurried to him. When Uncle Dagger gave an order it was to be followed. She had hoped to spend the evening with Josi but he wasn't worth her uncle's anger.
"I wanna go!" shouted an energetic young cub. All this traveling was rather boring for little Rusti. Lately she was driving everyone crazy as she found to ways to entertain herself - in other words, mischief.
"Sorry, Little One," Dagger answered. "You know you can't keep quiet and always scare away the prey.
"But..."
"No buts, Rusti! You stay here and behave, understand?"
"Yes, Uncle Dagger," Rusti muttered as she sulked away. "No one wants me around anymore."
Suddenly the little rust colored cub was lifted into the air. She squealed in delight and squired to see her playmate. Josi, the pink bear from the airship, had her in his arms.
"Don't be silly, small stuff. I want you around, at least. Everyone is just excited and nervous about seeing the other Barbics tomorrow."
"I'm a Barbic. They can always see me," Rusti proudly proclaimed.
Josi laughed aloud at the small cub and took her off to the edge of the camp to play games. The camp was all a buzz with the prospect of seeing their fellow Barbics again. It has been years since the war with the humans and ever since, Dagger's small clan has been separated from the rest of the Barbics. In a sense, they were going home.
~: ~
"Steady your arm, Buddi. You won't hit the target while waving at it." Ursa was trying to train her charge in the art of archery but she just couldn't get him to concentrate.
"I'm not waving at it," muttered Buddi. "This is boring, Ursa, can't I take a break?"
"Not until you get some more practice in. I'm not going to let you go anywhere until you get serious about your lessons. I won't be able to protect you forever, Buddi, you have to learn to defend yourself."
Buddi rolled his eyes. Sometimes he just couldn't believe that he was born to the same bears that were warriors. Even his parents were warriors and now Ursa, his guardian, was trying to make him one, too. Fighting always seemed a waste of time to Buddi. Any problem should be able to be solved without resorting to violence.
The cub sighed and took aim at the target again when Grubbi, the clan's cook, interrupted.
"Sorry to bother you, Ursa," apologized the big bear, "but somehow our meat supplies have gone low."
"Gritti and the others should be back by tomorrow from their hunting trip," consoled Ursa.
The cook just shook his head, "that still leaves us to figure out what to do for tonight and tomorrows breakfast."
A mental light bulb (even if they hadn't been invented yet) light up in Buddi's head. "Can I go hunting, Ursa? I can practice and still be out and about like I want to. You know I'm a good shot when I put my mind to it and I will, I promise."
Ursa regarded the cub thoughtfully. He was serious and by the way he asked all in one breath he really wanted to go. Finally she nodded. "Alright, Buddi. But you will have the pressure that we are counting on you. Can you handle that?"
"I'm a Barbic, aren't I?" Buddi beamed before sprinting off to get the supplies he would need. He was going to have an adventure!
~: ~
After taking down a wild boar, Arrow and Dagger relaxed by a small stream before heading back to camp. Dagger was uncomfortable, not physically, but emotionally. After his sister and her husband died in battle, it had been up to him to raise their cubs. He still hasn't gotten used to the idea of being in the parental role. Nieces were meant to be spoiled and that was taken away from all of them.
"Arrow, we need to talk before we go back."
"Alright," said Arrow. "What do you want to talk about?"
"I want to know how serious you are about that bear, Josi." Dagger hated beating around the bush so usually just got straight to the point.
Arrow pushed dirt around with her foot as she considered her answer. "I never really thought about that, to tell you the truth. I like him a lot and I'm glad that he came along. But if you mean if I am considering him for a mate then I would have to say no. I'm too young for that. Maybe when I'm older...but not now."
"I'm relieved to hear you say that," replied Dagger as he visibly relaxed. He is a nice bear but a far cry from being a Barbic. A bear like him would weaken the Barbic blood lines."
Teenage defiance shone in Arrow's eyes. "I never said that I would never consider him for a mate. I just might. I just want to be older. Besides, I don't think I want to have cubs."
Out of the frying pan and into the fire, thought Dagger. He ran his fingers through his rust colored hair in frustration.
"I'm just saying that I don't think you should get too close to him. I know you like him but he is so different that things wouldn't work between you. I don't want to see you getting hurt."
"I can take care of myself, I know what I'm doing," snapped Arrow. " I don't need you protecting me anymore. I'm not a little girl anymore so stop treating me like Rusti!" Having said she stood up and stalked back to the camp, her rust colored fur bristling in anger.
"Oh, Great Bear, why did you have to create teenagers?"
~: ~
Buddi had killed a mountain goat much to the delight of Ursa and Grubbi. As a reward, Ursa let him have the rest of the day to himself. He went off to explore some more. Ursalia was still a great mystery to them and he loved to find clues as to what the bears were like when they lived there. Zummi had stories about them but finding artifacts was much more exciting. Each time he found something he would take it to Zummi who knew how to tell what the original owner of the artifact was like. If he found more then he would have a good excuse to go back to the Glen and visit Sunni. Ursa didn't like him spending any time over at the Glen but she would not discourage him from learning about Gummi history on his own.
~:~
Rusti squealed with laughter. She was playing tag with Josi even though he didn't think of it as a game. Occasionally she would let him get close and then she would scurry off again by either climbing trees or hiding from bush to bush. She was little, agile, and fast: a typical Barbic cub. Josi was doing all he could to keep up with her but he wasn't raised in a warrior civilization. He was too soft and too slow to be a match for the adept cub.
Eventually, like all youngsters do, Rusti grew bored with the game and looked for something else to do. She completely forgot about Josi as she explored the new forest. It was nothing like the forest back home, but it was good enough for her.
Further and further she went into the forest until she could no longer figure out how to get back to the camp. The realization that she was lost started to sink it and she started to cry. Rusti climbed a tree like Dagger taught her to do if she was lost or in danger so she would be safe. She hoped that Dagger would find her soon and looked hard for any signs of the Barbics.
She did notice a bear moving, but it wasn't Dagger. This bear was small, not as small as she, but still small. As it grew closer she was able to see that it was a Barbic.
Relieved she scrambled down to the lowest branch and jumped from there onto the shoulders of the bear.
"Rusti found!"
The unknown bear was knocked off balance and fell to the ground landing face down. Rusti was on his back clapping happily. "Rusti found! Rusti found!"
~:~
Buddi's face was shoved into the dirt as something hit him from behind. He was getting ready to attack when he heard childish voice shouting, "Rusti found!"
"Get off me," Buddi finally managed.
"No! I wanna horsy ride!"
"I'm not a horsy, now get off!"
The child-thing got off of him with a whimper and Buddi was finally able to roll over and see who had jumped him. He was shocked to see a very young Gummi cub. As he looked closer, he realized she was Barbic.
"Where did you come from?"
"Not talking to you! You yelled at Rusti!"
"I'm sorry; you startled me by jumping on me. Where did you come from?"
"From the tree!"
Buddi groaned. He was getting nowhere fast and it was going to be getting dark soon.
"Where are your parents?"
"Parents with the Great Bear. Not here." Buddi realized that meant her parents were dead. All right, he was going to try again.
"Who is supposed to be taking care of you?"
"Uncle Dagger!"
Finally! They were getting somewhere. "Where is Uncle Dagger?"
The cub looked down sadly and sniffed. "I don't know. I got lost."
It was getting too late to go looking for her uncle now. The best thing to do would be to take her home to Ursalia and let Ursa lead a search party in the morning.
"Well, Rusti looks like you should come home with me. My name is Buddi. I'm going to make sure we find your uncle."
Rusti squealed in delight at this and obediently went back to Ursalia with Buddi. Her earlier fright making her behave for once.
~: ~
Dagger finally reached the camp carrying the entire wild boar on his own. He was going to have a stern talking to with Arrow about this but right now he just wanted to stretch out his shoulders. Arrow rushed up to him looking frantic - he knew something was wrong.
"Rusti is missing!" blurted the teenage cub.
"Calm down, Arrow. Is she missing or just hiding like usual."
"She's missing alright," answered Whip. "When Josi returned without her we send out a search party. We can't find her anywhere."
Fear made Dagger completely cold. His little cub was lost. Fear quickly transformed to anger and he had a target to take it out on. He turned to Josi and growled.
"You lost my little girl. You better hope for your sake that she is okay."
"Arrow, come with me," called Dagger to his niece. He was going hunting for their evening meal. The game neednt be too large for tomorrow they would be in Ursalia.
Arrow acknowledged her uncle and hurried to him. When Uncle Dagger gave an order it was to be followed. She had hoped to spend the evening with Josi but he wasn't worth her uncle's anger.
"I wanna go!" shouted an energetic young cub. All this traveling was rather boring for little Rusti. Lately she was driving everyone crazy as she found to ways to entertain herself - in other words, mischief.
"Sorry, Little One," Dagger answered. "You know you can't keep quiet and always scare away the prey.
"But..."
"No buts, Rusti! You stay here and behave, understand?"
"Yes, Uncle Dagger," Rusti muttered as she sulked away. "No one wants me around anymore."
Suddenly the little rust colored cub was lifted into the air. She squealed in delight and squired to see her playmate. Josi, the pink bear from the airship, had her in his arms.
"Don't be silly, small stuff. I want you around, at least. Everyone is just excited and nervous about seeing the other Barbics tomorrow."
"I'm a Barbic. They can always see me," Rusti proudly proclaimed.
Josi laughed aloud at the small cub and took her off to the edge of the camp to play games. The camp was all a buzz with the prospect of seeing their fellow Barbics again. It has been years since the war with the humans and ever since, Dagger's small clan has been separated from the rest of the Barbics. In a sense, they were going home.
~: ~
"Steady your arm, Buddi. You won't hit the target while waving at it." Ursa was trying to train her charge in the art of archery but she just couldn't get him to concentrate.
"I'm not waving at it," muttered Buddi. "This is boring, Ursa, can't I take a break?"
"Not until you get some more practice in. I'm not going to let you go anywhere until you get serious about your lessons. I won't be able to protect you forever, Buddi, you have to learn to defend yourself."
Buddi rolled his eyes. Sometimes he just couldn't believe that he was born to the same bears that were warriors. Even his parents were warriors and now Ursa, his guardian, was trying to make him one, too. Fighting always seemed a waste of time to Buddi. Any problem should be able to be solved without resorting to violence.
The cub sighed and took aim at the target again when Grubbi, the clan's cook, interrupted.
"Sorry to bother you, Ursa," apologized the big bear, "but somehow our meat supplies have gone low."
"Gritti and the others should be back by tomorrow from their hunting trip," consoled Ursa.
The cook just shook his head, "that still leaves us to figure out what to do for tonight and tomorrows breakfast."
A mental light bulb (even if they hadn't been invented yet) light up in Buddi's head. "Can I go hunting, Ursa? I can practice and still be out and about like I want to. You know I'm a good shot when I put my mind to it and I will, I promise."
Ursa regarded the cub thoughtfully. He was serious and by the way he asked all in one breath he really wanted to go. Finally she nodded. "Alright, Buddi. But you will have the pressure that we are counting on you. Can you handle that?"
"I'm a Barbic, aren't I?" Buddi beamed before sprinting off to get the supplies he would need. He was going to have an adventure!
~: ~
After taking down a wild boar, Arrow and Dagger relaxed by a small stream before heading back to camp. Dagger was uncomfortable, not physically, but emotionally. After his sister and her husband died in battle, it had been up to him to raise their cubs. He still hasn't gotten used to the idea of being in the parental role. Nieces were meant to be spoiled and that was taken away from all of them.
"Arrow, we need to talk before we go back."
"Alright," said Arrow. "What do you want to talk about?"
"I want to know how serious you are about that bear, Josi." Dagger hated beating around the bush so usually just got straight to the point.
Arrow pushed dirt around with her foot as she considered her answer. "I never really thought about that, to tell you the truth. I like him a lot and I'm glad that he came along. But if you mean if I am considering him for a mate then I would have to say no. I'm too young for that. Maybe when I'm older...but not now."
"I'm relieved to hear you say that," replied Dagger as he visibly relaxed. He is a nice bear but a far cry from being a Barbic. A bear like him would weaken the Barbic blood lines."
Teenage defiance shone in Arrow's eyes. "I never said that I would never consider him for a mate. I just might. I just want to be older. Besides, I don't think I want to have cubs."
Out of the frying pan and into the fire, thought Dagger. He ran his fingers through his rust colored hair in frustration.
"I'm just saying that I don't think you should get too close to him. I know you like him but he is so different that things wouldn't work between you. I don't want to see you getting hurt."
"I can take care of myself, I know what I'm doing," snapped Arrow. " I don't need you protecting me anymore. I'm not a little girl anymore so stop treating me like Rusti!" Having said she stood up and stalked back to the camp, her rust colored fur bristling in anger.
"Oh, Great Bear, why did you have to create teenagers?"
~: ~
Buddi had killed a mountain goat much to the delight of Ursa and Grubbi. As a reward, Ursa let him have the rest of the day to himself. He went off to explore some more. Ursalia was still a great mystery to them and he loved to find clues as to what the bears were like when they lived there. Zummi had stories about them but finding artifacts was much more exciting. Each time he found something he would take it to Zummi who knew how to tell what the original owner of the artifact was like. If he found more then he would have a good excuse to go back to the Glen and visit Sunni. Ursa didn't like him spending any time over at the Glen but she would not discourage him from learning about Gummi history on his own.
~:~
Rusti squealed with laughter. She was playing tag with Josi even though he didn't think of it as a game. Occasionally she would let him get close and then she would scurry off again by either climbing trees or hiding from bush to bush. She was little, agile, and fast: a typical Barbic cub. Josi was doing all he could to keep up with her but he wasn't raised in a warrior civilization. He was too soft and too slow to be a match for the adept cub.
Eventually, like all youngsters do, Rusti grew bored with the game and looked for something else to do. She completely forgot about Josi as she explored the new forest. It was nothing like the forest back home, but it was good enough for her.
Further and further she went into the forest until she could no longer figure out how to get back to the camp. The realization that she was lost started to sink it and she started to cry. Rusti climbed a tree like Dagger taught her to do if she was lost or in danger so she would be safe. She hoped that Dagger would find her soon and looked hard for any signs of the Barbics.
She did notice a bear moving, but it wasn't Dagger. This bear was small, not as small as she, but still small. As it grew closer she was able to see that it was a Barbic.
Relieved she scrambled down to the lowest branch and jumped from there onto the shoulders of the bear.
"Rusti found!"
The unknown bear was knocked off balance and fell to the ground landing face down. Rusti was on his back clapping happily. "Rusti found! Rusti found!"
~:~
Buddi's face was shoved into the dirt as something hit him from behind. He was getting ready to attack when he heard childish voice shouting, "Rusti found!"
"Get off me," Buddi finally managed.
"No! I wanna horsy ride!"
"I'm not a horsy, now get off!"
The child-thing got off of him with a whimper and Buddi was finally able to roll over and see who had jumped him. He was shocked to see a very young Gummi cub. As he looked closer, he realized she was Barbic.
"Where did you come from?"
"Not talking to you! You yelled at Rusti!"
"I'm sorry; you startled me by jumping on me. Where did you come from?"
"From the tree!"
Buddi groaned. He was getting nowhere fast and it was going to be getting dark soon.
"Where are your parents?"
"Parents with the Great Bear. Not here." Buddi realized that meant her parents were dead. All right, he was going to try again.
"Who is supposed to be taking care of you?"
"Uncle Dagger!"
Finally! They were getting somewhere. "Where is Uncle Dagger?"
The cub looked down sadly and sniffed. "I don't know. I got lost."
It was getting too late to go looking for her uncle now. The best thing to do would be to take her home to Ursalia and let Ursa lead a search party in the morning.
"Well, Rusti looks like you should come home with me. My name is Buddi. I'm going to make sure we find your uncle."
Rusti squealed in delight at this and obediently went back to Ursalia with Buddi. Her earlier fright making her behave for once.
~: ~
Dagger finally reached the camp carrying the entire wild boar on his own. He was going to have a stern talking to with Arrow about this but right now he just wanted to stretch out his shoulders. Arrow rushed up to him looking frantic - he knew something was wrong.
"Rusti is missing!" blurted the teenage cub.
"Calm down, Arrow. Is she missing or just hiding like usual."
"She's missing alright," answered Whip. "When Josi returned without her we send out a search party. We can't find her anywhere."
Fear made Dagger completely cold. His little cub was lost. Fear quickly transformed to anger and he had a target to take it out on. He turned to Josi and growled.
"You lost my little girl. You better hope for your sake that she is okay."