Growing Up

The Barbics, Glens and any other Disney characters are copyrighted to Disney and we claim no ownership. However, any new characters are copyrighted to Ulisa, Silver Fox and Cheetah the Furry. This plot is a collaboration of Ulisa, Silver Fox, and Cheetah the Furry.

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Ursa quickly followed Gritty's entrance. She stalked up to the cub and, grabbing him by the ear, proceeded to pull him along until they were outside. She ignored any protests that he could walk for himself and that she was twisting his ear off.

In the cool night air, Ursa released him with a rough hand. Ohh, she was mad. Not yelling, spitting angry but quiet angry. The worst kind. He knew what he did, and regretted it, but that's not what would appease Ursa. He didn't know WHAT would!

"Buddi, I thought I was raising a cub with manners. I _thought_ I was doing a very good job. Maybe even being a bit hard on you every now and then... I'll chalk that up to Glen interference. No, I see you need it even harder."

"But, Ursa--"

She took a deep breath, eyes flashing angrily. "Buddi Timba Barbic, the whole city heard your foul mouth! There is _no_ excuse to losing your temper in such a way. _NO_ excuse. Nor is there any for that broken plate. How can I trust you to be a proper Barbic around those Glens when you pull a show like that? I looked like a fool, marching in the kitchen to reprimand a teenager!"

"Ursa!" he cried to halt her tirade, unstoppable tears beginning to show. "I AM a teenager. I'm not a cub. I'm not an adult. Don't you know how tough THAT is? I just... Sometimes, I... I don't know! Okay? I have no idea why I do anything anymore! Nothing's ever good enough! Sometimes I think the Glens understand and respect me more than you Barbics!" he blurted out, and regretted that most of all.

Ursa stared in shock at the cub-- at Buddi. "Don't EVER say that again. Don't EVER denounce your heritage. How ungrateful! " She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him with each sentence. Not to be rough but to get her point across. How could they drift apart so far? How could he feel that way about Barbics, and her? It was that blasted Glen mentality! Desperately, she went through various ways in her head to get Buddi back to Barbic ways... Back to her. He just stood there, trying so hard not to cry but the tears leaked out anyway. And she knew what she had to do.

"Wipe those tears off. That's no way for a Barbic to act." He made the attempt but she knew she had to approach this carefully. "Buddi, I don't want you to misunderstand what I'm about to say. Hear me out fully, got it?"

Wiping at his eyes, he nodded. He wouldn't look at her, fearing the unknown punishment that had the face of Ursa.

"I want you to go in to the party. Look at the differences between Barbics and Glens. Keep that difference in your mind because you won't be seeing any of them for a whole month. You, Grubbi, and I are going on a Barbic haiana and, so help me, you will learn what it truly is to be a Barbic. Do you understand me?"

Buddi just stared at her. Yeah, he wished he hadn't insinuated that Glens were easier to get along with but he didn't really mean to say he'd _prefer_ to be a Glen. For any other reason, he would have probably looked forward to a haiana-- sort of a soul-and-roots search. He'd never done anything like that. Was told that only older Barbics did them and that such were rare, as Barbics seldom lost themselves. If Ursa thought he needed one... He'd scared her. He did. He knew it as sure as he knew he was standing looking at her. Ursa didn't scare. What had he done?....

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