Forest Outside Gummadoon

Cubbi looked to and fro with the rest of his fellow pages and squires. They'd been tasked with trying to track the knights down, or as best they could. This would be followed by some one-on-one time back inside Gummadoon's grounds but the knights said it was important for the boys to get out into nature on this beautiful day. Cubbi had no complaints there. His fellows, however...

"This is too hard," Martinni whined. "I'm no good at trackin'."

"C'mon, Marti. They made it a little easy for us, too." Corvi reasoned. "See? That mud up ahead has all their tracks in it."

Mud. Cubbi grinned at the sudden crazy thought in his head. He wandered farther ahead toward the mud as the others coaxed and coached the younger cubs on their tracking skills. He was starting to put his plan into action when Flynn raced up to him and said, "Let's play a game!"

Corvi remarked "Like what? No hide and seek or nothin' that's boring..."

Cubbi pondered this a moment "You guys know Name?"

"Name?" Flynn remarked. "No."

"Cavin taught it to me. You take people's names and twist them around."

Corvi eyed him "Hmm...like how?"

Cubbi thought a minute "Well, like...Corvi Norvi Bip Boom Lorvi. Dorvi Torvi Rip Room Corvi!"

Martinni giggled. "Do me, do me!"

"Martinni Tartinni Tip Toom Kartinni. Gartinni Sartinni Fip Oon Martinni!" Cubbi winced "yer name's hard!"

Martinni just beamed. "Cubbi Subbi Nip Noom Bubbi. Lubbi Wubbi Lip Loom Cubbi!"

Flynn squealed "Now me, now me!"

Thus, it became an odd song that permeated the forest air. With words some known and some not, the squires took to chasing one another about, each one calling and making up different names and when they ran out of names, they used anything they saw: trees, birds, acorns, mud.

Speaking of mud...

"Corvi!"

The teen whirled around to get a bomb of mud right in the face. Cubbi fell onto his back laughing. Toni covered his mouth, the first time in a while they'd seen the cub smile. "Corvi, it's an improved look!"

"Cubbi..."

Now, Corvi was usually a very well mannered cub mind you. Heck, Blastus said multiple times that Corvi needed to grow down instead of grow up. He acted far too mature for his liking.

But Corvi was still a cub and a boy at that. His skills had been challenged.

Scooping up a small handful of mud, he slammed his aim right at Cubbi who ducked and the mudball named Toni. "hey!"

Toni threw his own.

It hit Martinni.

Martinni's hit Flynn.

An all out mud war was on!

Cubbi knocked the most mud around, being an expert at it. Toni wasn't too bad either, sending Corvi face down into the nearby mud puddles by jumping on his back. Martinni was nervous at first but before long found himself targeting Flynn.

Corvi drew up a messy handful and threw it. Cubbi ducked and it soared right over his head, meeting an unintended target.

"Garçons ! Que faites-vous ?"

Corvi looked up, as the boys froze in mid romp.

Sir Blastus wiped the mud off his face as Plucki and Gumlittle came up behind him. Oh what a scene they came upon. Toni and Cubbi could only be detected by their smaller sizes. Flynn was oddly clean on the face and Martinni and Corvi looked like a bunch of mud monsters, their hair streaming down like tentacles.

Plucki, inwardly was deeply amused and even happy, thought it would be fun to make the boys sweat a little. "And what are we doing, squires?"

The group looked at each other. Cubbi remained unfazed. He knew that gleam, the gleam one got when they were secretly deeply entertained. He looked up, wiped the mud away so he could see his eyes. "We're practicing."

"Practicing what, mon ami?"

Toni spoke up, jumping up. "We were attacking the monster!"

Gumlittle chuckled, "What monster?"

Flynn spoke out, "The monster that lives in the mud!"

"yeah!" Martinni chimed in "It comes out and eats damsels!"

"So we're doing our job and protecting them!" Corvi laughed, pulling his hair back a bit. Blastus raised at brow at Corvi.

"Corvus?"

"Yes, Sir Blastus?" he asked, nervously.

A mound of mud nailed him in the face and he was slammed into the mud and Blastus gave him a sleek grin before pushing Flynn down too "And you didn't alert us?"

Toni beamed and leapt onto Sir Blastus' back, pushing him down into the mud. Blastus threw a wad at the boy who ducked, letting it hit Gumlittle. Gumlittle not about to take that lying down, nor about to pass up a chance to play-bond with his squires, charged in, nailing three boys at once, his little brother among them.

Through all this, Cubbi stared. Oh, he'd gotten Tummi and Sunni to play like this but...never the adults...not often.

"Yie!" he went sailing face down, landing in the cool mud. He whirled around to see his attacker and found Sir Plucki, knee deep in the mud with him, laughing.

"Keep up your guard, young squire."

Cubbi stared for a moment before squealing and launching himself, mud and all, right into Plucki's chest, using his momentum to send the Gummadoon Captain onto his back in the mud before landing his mud coated hands into the knight's beard and hair.

"Practice what you preach, Sir Plucki!"