A/N: This one-shot is just a little diddy I came up with while really bored in class. The characters were changed because I was told that the original idea I had made me sound like I didn't know what I was writing about. So the story now isn't what I imagined it could have been. Oh well. At least now I sound pseudo-intelligent. Shout-out to my beta, Aries28. I heart you.

A New Journey

Janglur Swifteye stood outside the tent, his half-lidded eyes flicking between the canvas door and his footpaws. His bushy tail shifted with the light spring wind, brushing comfortingly against the back of his tunic, rubbing his erect ears soothingly. But it didn't seem to help. He drew in a breath, letting it whistle through his teeth when he released it again.

The great warrior was nervous.

His last season of being a traveling warrior was over. Rusval Reguba would have to go one without him from now on. He was already hard pressed to leave at the end of autumn. His Rimrose was expecting their first child, and was weeks away from giving birth. But his mother Ellayo insisted that if he stayed cooped up in the tent all winter, he was sure to go stir crazy. With one last kiss to his wife, he set off one last time with his old friend. All the first sign of spring, he returned to the family tent. But he could not force himself to take the last few steps inside.

So he stood outside the tent, trying to reason with himself.

The baby was sure to be born by now; and growing already, no doubt. He kicked himself for letting his mother convince him to leave. Even if he didn't know anything about child rearing, he should have been there for the birth. That was the first of many, many mistakes he was sure to make.

Janglur Swifteye was on edge. He was nervous. He was almost to the point of being scared.

It wasn't that he was afraid for the babe's safety. He could protect it along with the rest of the family; there was no doubt in his mind of that. Janglur Swifteye was a brave and talented fighter who could take down any enemy.

What he was afraid of was his own lack of knowledge.

He never learned what a father should do or say to a child. He was raised solely by his mother, having no memories good or bad of his father. He wasn't sure how to handle this new situation. How much should be pamper the babe? How would he handle discipline? When would the baby need to learn of their lifestyle, and how much should he tell it when it asked questions? What kinds of questions should he expect?

What if he made a horrible father? What would happen when the baby realized that Janglur knew next to nothing about how to raise it? Would it grow wild and rebellious? Would the child stray from him and cling to its mother and grandmother, who were better equipped for the task of rearing it?

For the first time in his life, Janglur truly felt fear take over his senses. He looked down at the ground and nervously kicked the path beneath his footpaws, scattering leaves and dirt towards the tent.

"Son?"

The warrior jumped and looked up. Ellayo stood in the entrance, the small fire casting shadows across her fur as she stared out from between the flaps of canvas serving as a door. "Hello Mother." Janglur smiled, though his grin was thin and his eyes were a little wider than usual.

The older squirrel smiled and nodded. "You're finally back." She opened the tent "door", holding the flap out for him. "Come in. Say hello to your wife and your baby."

He nodded tersely, his muscles tense beneath his thick fur. "Pull yourself together Swifteye." He muttered angrily to himself. A grown squirrel like him, worrying over something as trivial as how he would rate as a father; ridiculous. Sucking in another deep breath, he dew up the courage to march into the tent.

Ellayo released the flap and padded over to the fire, adding an extra twig to keep it burning warm. Rimrose turned and grinned, standing to greet her husband. Janglur smiled and opened his arms, allowing his wife to throw herself at him, her own arms wrapped around him. "I'm so glad you're home."

He planted a light kiss on her cheek. "Good to be back."

Rimrose released her hold on him and nodded towards a cradle set up by the fire. "It's a girl." She said excitedly, eyes gleaming with pride.

Janglur gulped and walked over to the cradle, his wife just behind him. Ellayo looked up from the fire, a small smile on her lips. The warrior peered over the side of the baby's bed, looking down at a small bundle of blankets with a face peering out.

Rimrose watched as he chanced a glance at the quiet babe, noticing his whiskers twitch uneasily. She moved closer, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You should hold her for a while."

He froze. Hold the baby that he had been fretting about for the past half-a-day? Surely the child would already sense his unease and begin to push herself away from him. That would be the beginning of the end. He was certain of that much. But his arms still reached down and plucked the baby out of the moss-lined cradle, holding her tucked into the crook of his elbow.

He looked down at the little face staring out from the covers. She had his eyes, he noted. Her lashes were already long enough to whisper against her cheeks as she blinked up at him. He lifted a free hand and timidly placed it just above her head, his fingers reaching down to stroke her ears; she had her mother's fur. The babe giggled and grinned, wriggling her arms free from beneath the blanket and reached them out to him. He paused, looking at her curiously. She made a small cooing sound, moving her arms more frantically in front of her. He moved his hand from her head and it in front of her, just within reach. She giggled again and stretched her arms out, taking hold of one of his fingers with both tiny hands.

"She's beautiful." He whispered, a smile finally gracing his lips.

Rimrose and Ellayo nodded to each other, beaming. "We haven't named her yet." Rimrose admitted, watching his face again. "We wanted to wait for you."

"So, what do you think?" His mother asked, setting a kettle of fresh water on a flat rock above the burning fire, hoping to bring it to a boil.

The babe cooed more loudly, tugging on her father's finger. Janglur grinned. "Song." He said in a soft voice, still loud enough for the women to hear.

Ellayo gathered a few spices together, dropping them one by one into the hot water. "That's not a name, son." She said with a small laugh, watching her son and his new baby out of the corner of her eye.

Rimrose chuckled, walking over to help her mother find the mugs. "Song's a lovely name, Janglur." She grinned widely as she pulled three cups from a knapsack. "She's just what we need. A fresh spring breeze after winter."

The older woman nodded as she removed the boiling water from the heat. "Songbreeze. I like it."

Janglur's grinned widened. "Songbreeze . . ."

The baby yawned loudly, curling up in her warm blanket, hand's still wrapped around her father's finger. Rimrose laughed. "She likes you." The warrior's eyes sparkled with delight and moved the bundle closer to him. Songbreeze squirmed into his added warmth, releasing the softest of content sighs.

And all his doubts disappeared.